


FFXV: The Last Time Mage

by Millenniumgirl



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-05
Updated: 2018-04-21
Packaged: 2018-12-24 02:45:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 18
Words: 32,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12003336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Millenniumgirl/pseuds/Millenniumgirl
Summary: When Adrian P. Valdeze was coming home after a rough day at work, she was expecting a normal night. However, her life was turned upside down when  she was forced off the road by a mechanical man with red eyes. Plucked from her world and forced into the world of Eos, Adrian joins Prince Noctis and his friends to help him reclaim his kingdom, while learning more about who she truly is and the truth behind what is reality and what is tangled in illusions.





	1. A Girl in a Strange New World

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone, Let me start off by saying that this is my first FFXV fanfic so I hope that this retelling is well received. That being said the only thing I own is the OCs used in this fanfic. All other characters are the property of Square Enix and this story is strictly for entertainment purposes only. Creative critiques are welcome but please no rude comments. Thank you for your time and enjoy the first chapter of The Last Time mage.

“So uh...I was sort of...laid off...cause I...kinda knock a guy out.”  Adrian Valdeze said out loud to herself as she was heading home from a long stressful day of work. The radio blasted music and the Arizona road was dimly lit. Adrian let out a tense sigh.

 

“Damn it, no matter how I word it dad is going to kill me.” Adrian frowned as she kept driving down the lonely road. _“Hmm...this drive is really boring. Nothing ever happens.”_ Adrian thought as night time blanketed the desert landscape. She turned the radio up and enjoyed her  playlist. _“Ah...You never let me down.”_ Adrian smiled as she started to sing along.

 

“Don’t worry….be happy.” Adrian sang along with the song. Suddenly her radio switched to static. “What the…” Adrian glanced at her radio. She turned the dial trying to pick up her playlist channel. She frowned as some AM station picked up. Adrian hit the top of her dashboard a few times before her playlist was back up like normal.

 

“Hu...weird.” Adrian kept on driving normally. _“Uh...where is my turn? I don’t think I past it...did I?”_ Adrian started to worry as she kept driving down the long stretch of road. “Damn it.” Adrian cursed. She pulled over to the side of the road and tried to pull up her GPS app. There was no signal at all. “Are you kidding me?”

Now aggravated, Adrian got out of the truck and held up her phone to look for a signal. She didn’t pay attention to her surrounding until she started to hear what sounded like metal hitting pavement. Adrian jumped and looked around. She was startled by the noise and backed up into the truck.

Quickly, Adrian got into the driver seat and drove off. Her mind raced as she looked for a gas station or anything that could help her get home. As she looked for a gas station, she drove by a strange looking car, it looked like a cross between a Rolls Royce and something else that she couldn’t place, a Cadillac perhaps? _“Hu...what a weird car. Why would something like that be out in the middle of nowhere?”_

 

Adrian then looked up and slammed harshly against the breaks. The truck skid and swerved to avoid hitting the thing in the middle of the road. It hit the guard railing and flipped down the hill. Everything felt like it was slow motion as the now totaled truck came to a stop upside down.

“Ahk…” Adrian moaned, she slowly looked around. She didn’t register what had just happened to her. Slowly, the metal beats walked closer to the useless truck. Adrian watched in fear as she saw a pair of metallic feet standing at the window. She couldn’t help but feel the sense of danger.

Quickly and quietly, she took out her pocket knife and started to cut through the seat belt. Under her weight, the seat belt snapped and Adrian quickly crawled out of the broken window. She looked up in terror as she was face to face with what she could describe as the face of the devil. Glowing red eyes and an emotionless green face, that however wasn’t the thing that scared her. Adrian’s eyes were locked onto the hands of the menacing creature, hands that were entirely mechanical.

 

“AHHHK!!!” Adrian let out a blood curling scream as she quickly backed up. The mechanical monster raised its weapon up, ready to kill Adrian. She quickly rolled to the side as the metal monster buried it’s weapon into the dirt.

Out of desperation, Adrian grabbed a stick to use as a weapon. “HYAAA!” She swung down against the back of the monster’s head. This however didn’t slow down the metal monster. Instead it yank the sword out of the ground and swung down on Adrian. The stick broke in two by the force and the icy cold blade bit into her shoulder.

“AHK!” Adrian backed up and shook as she held her shoulder tightly, covering up the bloody cut. Her legs buckled under her weight and she collapsed to her knees. _“I refuse to die here! Not now! Not like this!”_ Adrian looked up defiantly at the devilish eyes of this mechanical demon.

 

As all hope seemed lost, A streak of light blue light hit the mechanical soldier, ripping the arm off. Adrian watched in awe as a man appeared with a sword in hand. Sparks of what looked like floating crystals circled around him. The robotic demon hissed and flailed as it charged at the man desperately. Adrian couldn’t look away.

Mesmerized, she watched the man warp away, suddenly reappearing in the air, the sword was replaced with a spear. He drove the spear into the mechanized menace. Dark shadowy smoke spewed out of the thing as Adrian could hear what sounded like a dying wail. Adrian just sat there, shocked at what she had just witnessed. She didn’t noticed the pair of hands that helped her up onto her feet. “Hey come with me. We need to get you back to camp.” Adrian looked over her shoulder. The man helping her was blond and his face had freckles. She looked back at where the other man destroyed the devil robot.

 

“Prompto is she okay?” Adrian could barely make out the other man against the dark surrounding. She sighed and let herself answer for the blond man she assumed is called Prompto.

 

“I...I’m fine...just shaken...and that….that thing cut me!”

 

The blond man gave a small smile.“At least you’re talking, Iggy and Gladio shouldn’t be too far away. We’ll meet up with them at camp.” the other man caught up with them. Adrian gave a odd look at the other man. His hair was dark and messy while his bang hid his eyes. She couldn’t help but feel like she knew this man from somewhere but she couldn’t quite remember where.

 

“Uh...No...nonono.” Adrian pulled away from Prompto and backed away from the two men.  “Look...I appreciate you guys helping me out, but I...I really need to get back home. You see today has been a really...Really stressful day so I think I’m just gonna find the nearest gas station and call for a cab home.” Adrian let out a nervous laugh.

 

The dark haired man gave a serious look, though it was too dark to see, Adrian could feel his stare. “It’s too dangerous for you to travel alone, especially at night. Besides, your wounded.” His tone was stern, but it held concern.

 

Prompto nodded in agreement. “Yea it’s better if you stay with us, at least for tonight. That way you don’t have to deal with anymore magitek soldiers or run into any demons. Also you must be hungry.”

 

“Hungry? Ah…” Adrian felt her stomach growl. She didn’t realize how hungry she was. She shook her head. “Nope na...I’m good haha…” Adrian started to feel light headed. “Uhg…ah...” the dark haired man placed a hand against her back to help her stay up right.

 

“Come on, I’m not asking this time. I’m telling you to come with us.” Adrian nodded and let the two men walk her to their camp.

 

As they walked, Adrian couldn’t help but feel a little awkward. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she knew this guy from somewhere. “Uh...hmm…” she sighed, should she just ask for a name? That seems like a reasonable thing. Yet what was keeping her from asking? Just then Prompto broke the silence.

 

“So...what’s your name? You know since you’ll be joining us for tonight.” Adrian looked over at the blond. She couldn’t help but to give a smile.

 

“Adrian...Adrian Valdeze.” The dark haired man glanced over at Adrian.

 

“Valdeze? That’s an odd name.”

 

Adrian pouted. “No it’s not.”

 

Prompto then pointed ahead with a smile. “We’re almost at the camp site. I think you’ll like Iggy and Gladio and I’m positive they’ll like you. You seem like a nice person.” Adrian noticed the blue glow in the rock.

 

“Why is that glowing blue?” both men gave Adrian an odd look. The dark haired man sighed.

 

“You don’t know?” Adrian just shook her head.

 

“Know what? I’ve never seen glowing blue rocks.” the dark haired man sighed.

 

“They’re safe haven. It’s a safe spot to camp.” That was when she spotted two other men running up to them from the camp site. One man had a pair of glasses on and the other man was tall and muscular. Adrian blushed at the sight.

 

“Is everyone okay?” asked the man with glasses, he had an accent.

 

The dark haired man nodded “Prompto and I are fine, but she’s wounded.” the man with glasses looked straight at Adrian. Adrian couldn’t help but feel like he was analyzing her.

 

“How are you feeling right now? Any dizziness?”

 

“Uh...just a little.” Adrian admitted. The man looked up at the other two men who was with Adrian.

 

“You two go grab some potions and the first aid kit Gladio and I will keep an eye on her.”

 

The dark haired man gave a smirk. “You got it Specs.” they hurried to the tent.

 

The man in glasses and the tall muscular man stayed with Adrian next to the campfire. Adrian felt a bit uneasy. “You should sit down. I would like to look over your wounded shoulder to assess the damage.” Adrian nodded and sat down on the ground. The man with glasses took his gloves off and looked closely at her wound. “Hmm.” Adrian looked over at the tent when the dark haired man and Prompto came out with a first aid kit and an odd teal color bottle. Prompto gave a worried look.

 

“So how bad is it Iggy?” the man in glasses looked over at Prompto and the dark haired man.

 

“She’s very lucky to have made it out of that encounter with just a shallow cut.” the muscular man smirked.

 

“That’s good. We don’t need any more people getting killed because of the Nifs.”

 

Adrian gave a confused glance at the muscular man. “Nifs? What are Nifs?” the four men look at Adrian with a shocked look. She turned red from the sudden awkward silence. _“Did I just say something stupid? Why are they looking at me like that?”_

 

Adrian fidgeted as the man with glasses finished patching up her shoulder. “Nif is short for the Niflheim Empire. What attacked you was a Magitek soldier. They were created by the Empire.”

 

“Niflheim? Doesn't ring a bell.”

 

Just then the dark haired man sat down in one of the camping chairs and he sent a sharp glare.“You really are odd. How could you not know about the Nifs?” There was a tense tone in his voice. Almost like he was warning her watch what she says next.

 

Adrian frowned, she didn’t like the tense feeling in the air so she decided to just tell them what she knows. “Look I have no clue what happened. All I know was that I was just driving back home like normal. The next thing I know, I’m starting down a red eyed psycho robot and Mr. magical warping armory over there literally broke that thing apart like it's a normal thing. Now you’re telling me that there some crazy place called Niflhiem that make said psycho robots? I…” Adrian stood up and crossed her arms. “There is only one explanation for this...for all of this.”

 

The dark haired man furrowed his eyebrows, “And that would be?”

 

“I’m dreaming. This can’t be possible.” Adrian snapped as she started to walk away from the group. “So you know what...I’m going to wake up and forget that this crazy dream ever happened…” She suddenly stopped and looked back at the dark haired man. “Wait...Magiteks...that’s a final fantasy thing isn’t it?” Suddenly Adrian realized why the dark haired man was so familiar to her. “Oh you have got to be kidding me...I know you! Your….” Dizziness started to take hold of Adrian. “Your...No...” the Dark haired man quickly got up and caught Adrian before she could fall. The four men looked at each other with a confused look.

 

Prompto gave a whistle. “Well...uh...She must have hit her head really hard hu? Right?”

 

Gladio nodded. “Either that or she was a bit nutty to begin with.”

 

Ignis pondered for a bit. “There is a possibility that she is telling the truth. Just because something sound impossible doesn’t mean that it is.”

 

Gladio sighed. “Whatever the case may be, we still have a situation, Should we trust her?”

 

Noctis sighed as he picked up Adrian. “For now we’ll have to wait and see.”   

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little fun fact about this story was that originally I wasn't going to have a full blown story. Just a persona that expresses my thoughts about different aspects of the game in a comical way. But the more I brainstormed, the more I started to like the persona as a character. Hence the little story of how Adrian was created.


	2. Day at camp

“Uhg…” Adrian groaned as she woke up the next morning. Her head was throbbing as she slowly opened her eyes. She took a moment to take in her surrounding. The first thing she noticed was that she was inside a tent, a green gray colored tent. She sighed and slowly sat up. Her shoulder gave a dull pain, this was a bad reminder of the night before. Adrian had to cover her mouth to keep from screaming. Lying next to her was the blond man, Prompto, and his friend, Noctis. Adrian pinched herself a few times to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. She wasn’t.  _ “Maybe if I’m very very quiet...I can slip out and not wake them up.”  _  Slowly Adrian got up and tiptoed out of the tent. She slipped out the tent and squinted as the sunrise blinded her. “Ahk…” 

 

“Oh I didn’t expect you to be up so early.” Adrian let her eyes readjust and she recognized the man who mended her wound the night before. 

 

“Oh...uh...morning.” Adrian said softly, she was unsure about how to go about things, especially since she remembers flipping out on them. “So...uh...about last night.” 

 

“You were just reacting under stress.” Adrian nodded at the man’s explanation. 

 

“I guess that makes sense but I still don’t know how I got here.” Adrian started to pace. Then she stopped and turned red. “Oh...where are my manners. I never got to introduce myself. I’m Adrian.” 

 

“Ignis.” The man with glasses simply replied. Adrian noticed that Ignis was cooking. 

 

“You know how to cook?” Ignis glanced over at Adrian. 

 

“Off course. Actually since you’re up you can help stir this.” Adrian lightly tugged at her hair as Ignis handed the stirring spoon to her. 

 

“Oh...you’re okay with that?” 

 

Ignis sighed.  “If you rather go hungry…” 

 

Adrian shook her head.  “No no...I’m more than glad to help.” That’s how Adrian got roped into helping Ignis prepare for breakfast. Stirring the pot and making sure the food didn’t burn. Adrian didn’t notice when Ignis handed her a potion. “Hu what’s that?” 

 

“It’s a potion for your shoulder.” Adrian took the teal bottle and gave an odd look. 

 

“Potion?...okay.” She drank the potion and cringed. “Yuck that taste bitter.”

 

There was a laughed from behind her. Ignis sighed as he looked behind Adrian. It was the muscular man with tattoos. “Haha,  first time is rough.” he gave a cocky smirk. 

 

“Adrian this is Gladiolus.” Adrian gave a small smile. 

 

“Nice to meet ya.” Adrian started to tug on a strand of her hair. There was an awkward silence in the air. She wasn’t sure about what to say now. Luckily, Ignis interrupted the silence. 

 

“Well we best wake up Noctis and Prompto for breakfast.” Adrian gave a smirk.

 

“How hard can that be? I’ll wake them up...if that’s okay with you guys?” Ignis and Gladio looked at each other, then back Adrian. 

 

Gladio shook his head and gave a smirk.  “Hell I would be impressed if you can get Noct out of bed.” 

 

Adrian tilted her head and crossed her arms.  “Is that a challenge?”

 

Gladio shrugged.  “If you want it to be?” Adrian looked over at the tent and took a deep breath. She straighten her back and walked over. She then poked her head inside the tent. 

 

“Uh...Breakfast is ready.” they didn’t budge. “Hmm.” Adrian stepped into the tent and slowly got a little closer. She first gently shook Prompto awake.

 

“Hu...you’re up?” Prompto mumbled as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. 

 

“Yea breakfast is ready.” Prompto gave a bright smile. Adrian couldn’t help but to smile back. 

 

“Hell yea! You’ll love Iggy’s cooking. Wait...you didn’t get to eat last night, You must be starving.” Prompto gave a panicked look.

 

“Don’t worry, I’ll eat as soon as I wake up Noctis.” Prompto smirked. 

 

“I can help you there. I’ll be right back.” Prompto hurried out of the tent. 

 

“Uh…” Adrian was confused at first but decided not to let it bug her. She shrugged and started to gently shake Noctis’s shoulder. “Hey...uh...Prince or highness….ah fuck it...Noctis wake up!” 

 

“Mhph…” Noctis let out a quiet groan and pulled the blanket over his head. Adrian frowned. 

 

_ “Oh he’s one of those people…this might be a bit tougher than I thought.” _ Adrian pouted and shook Noctis a little harder. “Hey! Wake up Noctis! Food’s ready!” Noctis shifted a little but he was quick to fall back asleep. Now Adrian was a little frustrated. 

 

Prompto came back with some pot lids.  “No luck hu? As long as I known him, Noct has always been a really heavy sleeper.” He handed Adrian a pair of pot lids. “Well on the count of three we bang these against each other...ready.” Adrian nodded. “THREE!” Prompto and Adrian both banged the pot lids loudly. “Now we should duck.” Prompto warned. He held the pot lid up like a shield. 

 

“What wh…” Adrian didn’t have a chance to get her question out when a pillow came flying at her face. She lost her balance and her arms flailed dramatically to try to catch herself. Prompto gasped as Adrian sat up with a shocked look on her face. The culprit of the pillow missile was a disgruntled  Noctis. However, he blushed from embarrassment after realizing that his aim was off. 

 

“Damn it...I’m sorry. I wasn’t aiming at you I swear I was aiming at Prompto…” 

 

Adrian then started to giggle. She looked up at Noctis in a giggly fit.  “Don’t be sorry. I just wasn’t expecting a pillow to the face. Anyway breakfast is ready.” 

 

Noctis looked away, rubbing the back of his neck. “Okay thanks I’ll be out in a bit.”  Adrian got up and nodded. 

 

Prompto smiled and nearly dragged Adrian out of the tent.  “All right Noct we will see you in a bit.” 

 

A few minutes later everyone was outside quietly eating breakfast. Adrian looked around as she quietly nibbled on some toast. _"What were they thinking about?"_ Adrian understood that they were hesitant about her. She did sound crazy last night, but the quietness was started to make her nervous. Adrian took a breath and opened her mouth. “This is really good toast.” 

 

_ “Great Adrian...you sound like a real dumb ass.”  _ The four guys looked at her. Adrian turned bright red. _"Code Red Code Red Adrian! You gotta say something to recover from that blunder!"_  she wanted to hide. “I...ah...uh…” 

 

Ignis smiled.  “Thank you Adrian. I appreciate the compliment.” 

 

Adrian smiled back.  _ “Okay baby steps.”  _ with that Prompto started to talk. 

 

“So Adrian where are you from? You never got to tell us.” 

 

“Arizona...Er...You guys wouldn’t know where that is would you?” 

 

Noctis shook his head.  “No, I’ve never heard of Arizona. How far away is that from Lucis?” Adrian turned red. She didn’t know anything about this world, only that it was a supposedly some made up world in a final fantasy game that an acquaintance of hers was geeking out over. After mentally debating with herself, Adrian decided that the best way to go is to be honest.

 

“I don’t know how far, last night I was going home from work but i didn’t noticed that I had teleported from home to...Lucis you said right?” Noctis nodded quietly. His stare was intense, focused on her. She couldn’t help but feel a little intimidated by his stare. “Well...okay look I don’t know how I literally drove into a different universe or why. But what I do know is that I have no clue about this place. Like those psycho robots you call Magitek or about Niflheim, Lucis, or anything about Eos.” then Adrian remembered how her radio in the car picked up static in an odd manner while driving home. “Wait...my radio...it went out for a short moment before that robot attacked. Do you think that has anything to do with this?” Noctis glanced over to Prompto, Gladio, and Ignis. There was a questioning look in their eyes. 

 

“Didn’t the same thing happen to us yesterday? It switched to some weird channel for a minute before going back to our normal station?” 

 

Gladio nodded. “Yea but that could have been anything.”

 

Ignis pushed his glasses up and pondered. “But we weren’t transported into a different world. She was...but how is the question?” 

 

Adrian raised her hand like a child in class.  “Uh Mr. Ignis sir...Where would that put me? My dad must be freaking out now and if there is anyway I could contact him to make sure that he knows I’m safe, I would appreciate getting to do that.” 

 

Noctis furrowed his eyebrows, then sighed.  “We are on our way to Hammerhead to get fuel and supplies. You can try to make a call to your father there.” Adrian blushed and fought every urge to just run up and hug him. Mainly because she didn’t want to overstep her welcome.  

 

Instead she got up and gave a smile. “Thank you, thank you so much. I really appreciate your help.”

 

Prompto then got up with a bright smile.  “HELL YEA HAMMERHEAD!!! Hey maybe Cindy could help you out with your car. She is amazing when it comes to cars, and so nice, and sweet, and kind. Not to mention…” 

 

Gladio shook his head.  “Prompto stop creeping out our guest. Now let's get camped packed up in the regalia.”  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a little slow but sometimes you need slow chapters to build up connections. :P Anyway I hoped you enjoyed it. Thank you.


	3. First stop Hammerhead

Adrian helped out with packing up camp and found out that the strange looking car was their car.  _ “Well shit. I really could have pulled over here for help.”  _ She followed Gladio to the car with two chairs in hand. Adrian couldn’t help but feel a bit intimidated by Gladio. He was tall and muscular with tattoos on his arms and also had a scar on his face. 

 

However she decided that it was best left unasked out of fear that Gladio would get angry. Gladio looked back at the petite woman and smirked. “You don’t need to be so quite. I don’t bite much.”  Adrian blushed at the comment. Was he teasing her or flirting with her? She couldn’t really tell. Gladio couldn’t help but give a laugh at Adrian’s reaction. “Just kidding. Anyway can you hand me the chairs.” 

 

“Oh yea sure.” Adrian handed the chairs to Gladio. 

 

“Hey...I know you’re probably really nervous aren’t ya?” 

 

Adrian frowned and glanced away. “Off course I am. I’m in a strange world with no clue how to get back home. I know it sounds silly but I can’t help but be a bit nervous.” 

 

Gladio nodded as he put the chairs aways. “Do you know how to fight?” 

 

Adrian shook her head.“Just a few self defense classes. Enough to get away from danger.” 

 

Gladio closed the trunk and glanced over at Adrian. “Okay we’ll have to train you how to fight. You won’t last five minute by yourself.” Adrian couldn’t hide her blush. Is this guy really willing to train her? 

 

“I uh what? You want to train me?”

 

Gladio smirked, clearly amused by Adrian’s reaction.“There’s nothing weird about me training you how to defend yourself and after your close encounter last night, I think it would be better for you if you actually knew how to fight.” Adrian nodded in agreement. She didn’t want to get caught off guard again by the MT’s or anything else that could hurt her. 

 

“Right...okay sure. Sounds good.” Adrian smiled, she started to feel a little bit better about her situation.

 

Noctis, Prompto, and Ignis walked up with the rest of the gear and packed it into the car. 

 

The drive was quiet and Adrian found herself seated between Noctis and Gladio. She couldn’t help but tug at the hem of her work uniform. The pink fabric was irritating to her and starkly stuck out next to the guys dark clothing. She then proceeded to start braiding her long thick ebony dyed hair, fiddling with it as they neared Hammerhead. Prompto turned around with his camera and snapped a shot. “Hey!” Adrian gasped. 

 

“Sorry but I couldn’t pass up the shot. The color of your dress against Gladio and Noct just looks really good.” 

 

Noctis glanced away. “Prompto…”

 

Noctis started to talk but then Prompto smirked. “Oh come on Noct, you can’t deny that you make a good subject for pictures.” 

 

“Yes I can.” Adrian assumed that Noctis probably didn’t like getting his picture taken too much. 

 

Prompto rolled his eyes. “You always say that.” 

 

“We’re here.” Ignis said as they pulled up to what Adrian could call a gas station and a garage. They got out and Noctis caught Adrian’s attention. 

 

“Hu?” Adrian had to look up at Noctis, catching his stormy blue eyes. 

 

“Follow me, we’re gonna talk to Cindy about finding clothing for you” Noctis spoke in a casual tone.

 

Adrian looked down at her uniform and sighed. “Yea running around in a waitress outfit isn’t too functional is it?” Adrian tried to joke about her outfit. Noctis smirked at her attempts of a joke.  _ “He actually smiles!? Granted it was a smirk but still...he smiled!?”  _ He then started to walk ahead but when Adrian wasn’t following he glanced back with a confused look. 

 

“Aren’t you coming?” Adrian shook her head to snap back to reality. 

 

“Oh yea yea, I’m coming. I was just thinking.”  Adrian hurried to catch up with the prince. Noctis stopped and Adrian didn’t pay attention and bumped into him. 

 

“Hey!” Noctis looked back with a concerned look. Adrian avoided his gaze and turned red. 

 

“Sorry.” she murmured. Noctis sighed as Adrian noticed a woman walking up. She had short curly blond hair, a truckers hat, and shorts Adrian wouldn’t want to be caught wearing in public. She gave a pleasant smile as she waved. 

 

“Hey prince, How was the hunt you guys took?” 

 

_ “Hunt?”  _  Adrian thought. “ _ Isn’t he a prince?” _

 

Noctis smirked as he casually answered.“It went fine, you don’t have to worry about that Behemoth anymore.” the blond girl smiled brightly. 

 

“Nice to hear ya say that. Oh did you need me to tune up the Old girl for ya cause I have some parts that will…” 

 

“Actually Cindy I was wondering if you had any clothing that you don’t use anymore.” 

 

Cindy gave Noctis an odd look. “Clothing?” 

 

“Uh for Adrian. She’s stranded and we’re thinking about dropping her off in Lestallum. However she doesn’t have any other clothing with her.” Noctis side stepped and unshielded Adrian, who gave a nervous smile. 

 

“H...Hya...I’m Adrian.”

 

Cindy gave a bright smile.“Cindy. Nice to meet ya.” Cindy then gave a nod. “Don’t worry Prince. I have a few things she can have.” with that Adrian followed Cindy into the garage. 

 

Noctis sighed and headed back to the car to refuel it. Prompto came running up with a bag of supplies and his camera in hand. “Hey Noct look at this.” 

 

“What is it?” Noctis looked up. Prompto was flipping through images in his camera. 

 

“Okay so remember when I was taking pictures last night in camp. You know before Adrian’s car crash?”  

 

“Yea you guys were teasing me about my sleep habits why?” Prompto pointed to one of the photos. 

 

“Just look at this. I didn’t realize that I had a picture of Adrian’s car before she crashed. But if you zoom in it looks like she...well her car...warped.”

 

“What that’s impossible.” Noctis took the camera and looked at the photo, Sure enough, there was Adrian’s car surrounded by a yellow version of his warping abilities. “Did you talk to Iggy and Gladio about this?” 

 

“Yea they’re just as confused. What does that make Adrian?”

 

Noctis shook his head as he furrowed his brows. “I don’t know.” Just then Ignis and Gladio came out talking. Noctis assumed it was about the picture Prompto had. 

 

“It’s up to Noct whether we let Adrian stay with us or find the nearest stop to drop her off at.” Ignis calmly stated 

 

“Look she didn’t say anything about warping. You would think that she would know about something like that.” Gladio gruffed.  

 

Noctis overheard Ignis and Gladio. “Unless she really doesn’t know about this warping ability of hers?” He suggested. Ignis and Gladio looked at Noctis. 

 

Prompto then chimed in.“What makes you say that buddy?” 

 

“I know it’s a weird thing to say but I can’t really see her as being connected to Niflheim.”

 

Ignis contemplated this notion. “Her behavior is odd. Definitely out of character of a Niflheim soldier or anyone from our world for that matter.” 

 

Prompto’s eyes grew large. “Wait wait wait from our world? Are you suggesting that she might be like some kind of alien?” 

 

“What are you guys talking about?” the four looked over and saw a cleaned up Adrian. Her hair was tied back into a nice braid. She wore a brown leather corset top, dark blue jeans, and black boots, the only thing that was the same was her amber pendant. The honey colored crystal seemed to glow against the dark leather. Prompto was the first to start gushing. 

 

“Ahk! You look so CUTE!!!” he easily bear hugged Adrian and spun around. “Guys we have to let her stay!!! Come on Noct, Iggy, Big guy.” Adrian felt like she was going to suffocate. She started tapping against Prompto’s arm. 

 

“I tap out, I tap out! Uncle Uncle!” Prompto released Adrian from his hug and grinned widely. 

 

“Ha ha Sorry, let myself get carried away. Cindy really helped you out there. Isn’t she wonderful.” Adrian tried to inch her way away from the obviously lovestruck Prompto. 

 

_ “That boy is so head over heals for Cindy.” _ Ignis and Gladio glanced over at Noctis. Adrian knew that her staying was his choice and the thought made her nervous. His blue eyes were like steel and Adrian shivered slightly. Why was she so nervous around him? 

 

Noctis then smirked. “What do you say Adrian? Do you think you can handle traveling with us for a little bit? I will warn you though, you’ll have to know how to fight.” Adrian was shocked with Noctis’ question. She felt the corner of her mouth tug into a cocky smirk. 

 

“Can I handle traveling with you guys? Tch, Look, I can take more of those psycho robots down with my hands tied behind my back.” Noctis raised an eyebrow, amused by Adrian’s antics. 

 

“Like how you took on the one last night?”. 

 

“W...well I was...in shock from...you know with the whole truck flipping down a hill and not being familiar with what psycho robots…” Adrian ranted on. 

 

“Magiteks.” Ignis corrected Adrian. 

 

“Yea those...with the glowy red eyes and …..metal green face….” Adrian went pale at the memory. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves. “That doesn’t matter. Beside I really don’t have a way home, so I guess my only option is to stick with people. Also….it wouldn’t hurt to have little extra training here and there.” Adrian poked her two fingers together bashfully.

 

Noctis sighed. “That settles it then. Now all that is left is to find a weapon that you can use.” 

 

Adrian’s eyes grew large. “W...Weapons?” 

 

Gladio picked up on Adrian’s hesitation.“What you’ve never used a weapon before?” 

 

“No not really...actually I’ve never even handled a weapon before.” Adrian admitted bashfully. 

 

Gladio sighed. “This is going to be a long trip.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay now to hunt down what weapon Adrian actually sticks with. :D I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I will update with the next chapter as soon as I can. thank you and please feel free to comment and critique. (Just no hate please) Thank you.


	4. Training, Drawing, and the story of a Kingdom's fall

The next morning, Adrian panted as she tried to swing the greatsword around. “GRRK!” unfortunately a greatsword wasn’t it. She clumsily swung the sword to try to block Gladio but instead was knocked back to the ground. “GOD DAMN IT!” Adrian fussed as she dusted herself. Gladio smirked and helped her up onto her feet. 

“I don’t think Greatswords suit you too well. You are not a physically built, So let's try a lighter weapon.” 

Adrian pouted. “Aww...and I wanted to be a badass with a huge sword.” Gladio chuckled as he handed her a pair of daggers. 

“Try these. They aren’t as heavy and they will give your wrists a workout.” 

“Wait what does that suppose to mean.” Adrian poked at Gladio with a sour look. Gladio ruffled Adrian’s hair and let out a laugh. 

“What do you think I mean?” Adrian could feel her cheeks heat up. “Damn it Adrian get your head out of the gutter!” 

“Weak wrist means no strong attacks?” Gladio smiled at Adrian’s answer. 

“Good answer, now I know who can make a good sparring partner for you.” Adrian tilted her head. 

“Wait you're not going to fight me?” 

“Nope, you need an opponent who knows how to use multiple weapons quickly. That will help you learn how to defend against different types of attacks. Also I want to see how you handle yourself under pressure.” Adrian furrowed her eyebrows confused by what Gladio said. 

Suddenly Adrian was knocked down, “AHK WHO…” Adrian gasped as just inches from her throat was a sword and standing above her was Noctis. Adrian just swat the blade away and pouted. “You were just lucky.” Noctis just shook his head. 

“You need to be aware of your surrounding. If I was a bad guy, you’d be dead.” Adrian got up and armed herself. 

“Okay I’ll keep that in mind. Now come at me with all you got.” Noctis summoned his sword and they clashed. Adrian surprised herself when she pushed Noctis back. “Whoa did I do that?” Noctis didn’t give Adrian time to admire her strength as he switched from his sword to daggers. He then warped towards Adrian. “Uh oh!” Adrian panicked and tripped over her own feet. This gave Noctis the perfect opening as he pinned Adrian down again. 

“You’re dead again.” Noctis bluntly stated. 

Adrian sighed as she knew what Noctis and Gladio were about to address. “I need to work on my situational awareness yes.” 

Both Noctis and Gladio nodded. “Yea.” 

Adrian sighed as Noctis helped her back on her feet. “Okay one more time...I’ll get ya this time.” 

Noctis gave a smirked. “Okay...now are you actually going to back that statement?” Adrian gave a sour look. 

“Oh now I’m determined to make you eat those words.” this time Adrian took the offensive. She struck and Noctis blocked her attack. Adrian growled as she whipped around and tried to strike again. Noctis quickly warped away from Adrian’s attack and circled behind her. Adrian turned around quickly and blocked his attack. However Noctis was stronger and was able to force Adrian to the ground for a third time. “DAMN IT!!!” Adrian knew she had lost a third time. She sat up and gave a childish pout. “Noctis you are not fair.” 

Noctis raised an eyebrow as he dusted himself off. “How?” 

“How? HOW? DUDE YOUR A MAGICAL WARPING ARMORY!!!” Noctis smirked and helped Adrian up on her feet. 

 

“It’s not cheating. I have to keep my abilities in shape as well.” Adrian rested her hands against her hips and maintained her childish pout. 

“And I’m the human punching bag right?” just then Gladio walked up and rested an arm on top of her head. 

“Hey no need to be grumpy just cause you got your ass kicked. You’re still learning.” 

Adrian glanced up at Gladio, “Why are you resting your arm on my head?” 

Gladio smirked. “Cause you're the perfect height for my arm to rest on.” Adrian stuck her tongue out in protest. 

Noctis smirked. “I could get Prompto over here. He’ll like to take a picture of you two.” Adrian scrunch up her nose and stuck her tongue out at Noctis. 

“So glad I amuse his Highness.” Adrian gave a mocking curtsy. Gladio chuckled at Adrian. Noctis just rolled his eyes. 

“Okay let's get going. Cor needs us to meet up with him up at the hunter outpost.” The air grew a little tense and Adrian fidgeted.

“Uh...Who’s Cor and I thought we were heading to Lestallum?” Noctis looked back, his face was a bit stern. Adrian blushed and looked away. “Sorry...I didn’t mean to pry.” 

“No it’s fine, You have the right to know.” Noctis assured Adrian.

Gladio also had a serious look. “We still have the news article. You can read it once we get on the road.” 

Adrian furrowed her brows. “Why not tell me?” 

“It’s a long story.” Noctis answered. Adrian couldn’t help but noticed a slight hint of worry in his voice, it was subtle but it was there. 

“I don’t mind long stories, but only if you guys are okay with telling me.” Gladio glanced over at Noctis and Noctis gave a slight nod. 

Adrian listen closely as she was filled in about what the boys situation was, about how they were originally headed to Altissia to marry Noctis off his childhood friend and oracle named Lunafreya. How Noctis’s father, King Regis, and the emperor of Niflheim was suppose to sign a peace treaty, instead Niflheim attacked the Crown City, Insomnia, and it resulted in the fall of Insomnia and the death of Noctis’ father and many Crown City citizens while making the survivors refugees. Adrian took the time to let the information she learned sink in while the party got in the car and they set off back on the road. She stayed silent as the boys conversed among themselves, well Noctis and Prompto conversed among themselves, Gladio was reading, and Ignis was focus on driving. “These guys have gone through hell...is it really okay for me to tag along?” 

“So Adrian what do you like to do?” Prompto asked Adrian, pulling her out of her deep thought. 

“Hu? Oh uh...I actually like to draw.” Adrian started to fish through her bag and pulled out her sketch pad. “They aren’t too good though.” She handed Prompto the sketch pad. He looked through the sketchbook with a bright smile. 

“Not good? These are awesome! Hey Noct look she has a fishing drawing here.” this caught Noctis’ attention. He took the book from Prompto and looked at the picture. His eyes seemed to light up. 

“Who is this?” Noctis looked over at Adrian. 

“My grandfather, He use to take me on the lake all the time, I drew this the last time we went on the lake before he passed away.” Noctis carefully flipped through the pages. Adrian started to blushed red. “Hey uh some of those are not fully finished so c..can I get that back?” 

“What kind of fish are these?” Adrian took back her sketchbook and looked at the drawing that Noctis was curious about.

“Oh that's a Speckled Dace.” 

“Neat.” Adrian smiled as she pulled out her pencil. 

“Thanks.” She opened her sketchbook to a blank page. Adrian figured it was going to be a while before they got to the outpost so she was going to doodle, But what would she draw was the question. Adrian pondered as she looked around her surrounding. She glanced over at Noctis. He was staring off at the landscape. Adrian was captivated by his look. She started to draw, she wanted the focal point to be the eyes so as they continued their trip, Adrian kept sketching away. “Shading is such a pain but I think this will really bring out the image.” This occupied Adrian for the rest of the trip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yea we get to see Cor soon XD. I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter so please don't hesitate to leave a comment. Thank you.


	5. The Immortal and family heirlooms

Monica paced as she listened to the reports of the fall of Insomnia and about the death of the king. It still felt so surreal. However, Monica stayed strong and upheld her order from Cor. Wait for Prince Noctis, make sure he know to meet Cor at the Royal tomb.  That was when she heard a car drive in and parked, she looked up and sighed a breath of relief. It was the Regalia. “Thank goodness. They’er here.” 

 

Gladio woke Adrian up. Her cheeks were smudged with charcoal and pencil. “Uh...five more minutes mom…” Gladio rolled his eyes. 

 

“Wake up princess. We’re here.” he shook Adrian awake. She stretched her arms and rubbed her face with her charcoal covered hands. 

 

“Wha? We’re here?” Gladio chuckled at the charcoal smeared look Adrian was sporting. 

 

Prompto caught a look at Adrian and started to laugh. “What...why are you guys laughing?” 

 

Noctis looked over and he giggled. “Adrian you look like the dead.” 

 

“Hu?” Adrian took one look in a mirror and groaned. “God damnit.”  she pulled out a baby wipe from her bag and cleaned her face off. “There now I don’t look like a racoon.” 

 

Ignis sighed as he pushed his glasses back up. “Be on your best behavior and Adrian you will address Cor as Marshal okay?” 

 

Adrian nodded. “Okay I am not arguing that.” she followed the guys into one of the run down buildings where a lady stood up and placed a hand against her heart and gave a bow. 

 

“Prince Noctis, I am glad you are here and safe.” Noctis gave a nod back. 

 

“Thanks Monica but where is the Marshal? He said that he would be here.” Monica explained that Cor was waiting for the group at the Royal tomb. Gladio then asked her about his little sister’s safety and was assured that she was safe in Lestallum. Adrian gave Gladio a surprised look.

  
  


_ “I didn’t know he had a little sister.”  _ Adrian thought to herself as the rest of the group discussed a plan of action. “So uh...this tomb? What is so special about it?”  

 

“The tomb we are heading to is actually one of Noctis’s ancestors. We are heading over there so that Noctis can obtain one of the royal arms.” Ignis explained as they stepped outside. 

 

“Royal arms?” Adrian asked. 

 

“Weapons that the past kings wielded. Only the Lucian royal family can use them.” Adrian looked over at Noctis and furrowed her brows. 

 

“Seriously? Dude you are packing some serious firepower.” Noctis glanced away and there was a faint blush that formed on his cheeks. 

 

“It’s not that impressive.” Noctis mumbled quietly. Adrian eyes slightly grew larger and she could feel her cheeks grow hot. 

 

_ “Holy cow! He’s really cute when he blushes.”  _ Adrian then shook her head and looked away.  _ “Get a hold of yourself Adrian! Noctis is engaged! He’s not available!”  _  Adrian mentally scold herself. To get her mind away from Noctis, she looked around at her surroundings. “Hey...I’m going to look at the weapons shop ‘kay.” Gladio smirked. 

 

“Okay, want me to go with you?” Adrian smiled. 

 

“If you want to. I just want to browse and see what they have.” Gladio smirked and they walked out. 

 

“So tell me what was that look all about?” 

 

“Hu...what look?”  Gladio smirked at Adrian. 

 

“Your face turned red while talking to Noct.” Gladio bluntly stated. 

 

“Oh.” Adrian looked away, worried that Gladio would catch on. Luckily for her, one of the weapons that was displayed caught her attention. “E...excuse me sir. May I look at that Atlatl?” The shop owner gave an odd look. He looked up and took down the dusty weapon. 

 

“This thing? Some strange old geezer from Galahad gave it to me three years ago. Said it was some ancient weapon for a line of mages. Though I have no idea what these markings are all about.” Adrian carefully took the atlatl into her hand and wiped away the dust. Her hands shook as she looked over the familiar tool. 

 

“This is...my grandfather’s atlatl.” Adrian looked up at Gladio with a shocked look painted on her face. 

 

“How much for it?” Gladio asked. The storekeeper shrugged. 

 

“Nobody has ever really expressed any interest in before, uh...a hundred gil sound good?” 

 

“Deal.” Gladio handed over the money. Adrian just stood there dumbfounded by finding her grandfather's Atlatl. Gladio noticed how pale Adrian looked. “Hey are you going to be alright?” 

 

“Thanks...I’m just really baffled about this…” Gladio furrowed his brows. 

 

“You're telling me. I’ve never seen a weapon like that before. It doesn’t look like it could hold up”  He looked really sceptical about the weapon. 

 

Adrian frowned. “This means that my grandfather was here...He never told me about Eos or...any of this. Also I know this atlatl doesn’t look like much but if I have the spear for this I can show you how powerful this can be.” 

 

They regrouped and headed over to the tomb. Adrian could feel her nerves build up as they hiked down the trail. “Uh...So what does this tomb look like? Is it like an underground tomb or is it a mausoleum?” her question was answered when they reached the tomb. The marble stone seemed to gleam in the sunlight. Adrian couldn’t help but be very impressed with the craftsmanship of the tomb. “Whoa...now that’s a tomb fit for royalty.” 

 

Ignis smiled. “I see you are impressed with Lucian architecture.” 

 

Adrian nodded. “I’ve never seen tombs like this back home.” Prompto smirked as he started to take a picture of the tomb. There at the entrance of the tomb was an older gentleman with a stern look on his face. His eyes were an icy blue color and it sent chills running down Adrian’s back. He intimidated her. However there was something faintly familiar about him. She leaned over to Ignis. “Ignis, who’s that?” 

 

“That is the Marshal.” Adrian turned pale. 

 

“That’s the Marshal!” 

 

“Yes, don’t worry. Cor is not going to hurt you. Though he will inquire about your intentions.” Ignis casually explained. 

 

“Wait. He’s not going to think that I’m bad...is he?” Adrian panicked as Cor approached. She couldn’t help but to try to shrink behind Ignis, her heart pounded loudly against her chest like an angry bird trying to escape a cage. 

 

Cor walked up to Noctis. “Your highness, it’s about time you came.” He then glanced over at Adrian. His eyes grew slightly larger for a second as his eyes landed on Adrian. This seemed odd to Adrian. However he kept his composer and cleared his voice. “Who is this?” Adrian turned bright red as she stayed hidden behind Ignis. 

 

“I...uh...I’m…” Ignis took pity on the floundering girl behind him. 

 

“This is Adrian, She will be accompanying us to Lestallum.” Cor kept his stern look. 

 

“Can she fight?” Cor inquired. Adrian took a deep breath to collect her nerves. 

 

“I can fight. Not perfectly but I can bring a guy down if I have to.” Cor furrowed his brows after hearing Adrian’s answer.

 

“I would feel better if you stayed outside to keep watch.” Adrian’s heart sank. She could tell that the marshal didn’t trust her too much, which was understandable. 

 

“Yes sir, I understand.” Adrian admitted in defeat. Noctis looked over at Adrian. He mouthed what looked like he was saying sorry. Adrian gave a small smile.  _ “I’ll be fine, I think. I just have to show that I am trusting and reliable.”  _

 

The guys walked inside the tomb and Adrian stood next to the door. She leaned against the wall with the atlatl in hand. She traced over the sun symbol that was carved into the hazlewood. The etching was filled with what she assumed was amber.

 

She let her mind wander.  _ “How did grandfather get here and why didn’t he say anything?”  _ so many questions ran through her head.  _ “What else did he hid from dad and me? Did mom know anything before she…”  _ Adrian sighed. Her hands tighten their grip on the weapon.

 

She was snapped out of her train of thought when she could hear Noctis from inside. She didn’t catch what he said but he sounded really upset, almost sorrowful. “Noctis?” Adrian wanted to sneak a peek at what was going on, but decided against it out of fear that Cor would catch her.  _ “I don’t know what they are talking about but Noctis sounded really upset.”  _  Adrian took a deep breath and placed her atlatl against her chest.  _ “Gramps I know you left this here for a reason, I have a feeling that you knew I would be here...but why and...how?”  _ she closed her eyes. 

 

Suddenly images flooded her mind, her vision was fragmented and unclear. There was one image that was clear though. A crystal, an amber colored crystal. Adrian eyes flew open as she gasped, clutching her atlatl tightly. She shook slightly as she noticed that the amber like crystal that was embedded in her weapon glowed faintly. Adrian watched it fade out.   _ “What the…?”  _

 

“Is everything alright?” Adrian jumped and glanced up to see the guys with a concerned look. Adrian collected her thoughts and tried to regain her composer. 

 

“I’m fine. I think...I think I need to go back to the outpost. I’ll see ya later guys.” Adrian started to walk away. 

 

“Wait.” Adrian stopped and looked back and saw that it was Cor. “Why not come with us to the tomb entrance I’ll escort you back to the outpost.” 

 

“Uh...yes sir.” 


	6. Goblins and Spiders and Caves, oh my!

They walked through the pass. Adrian stayed quiet as the guys talked. Her mind was still on what flashed through her mind. A amber crystal bound in chains, the dull glow that emanated from it made her feel sad. Like the crystal itself was in pain. “We are here.” Cor pointed out Adrian looked up and shivered. It was a cave.

“Caves!? Why did it have to be caves?” Adrian loathed the thought of having to go under ground. Cor sighed. 

“This is where I will have to leave you. Good luck.” 

Noctis nodded. “You too.”

Cor then glanced over at Adrian. “You ready to go Adrian?” 

Adrian looked up and nodded quietly. “Yes Marshall.” Adrian respond. They walked out of sight from the guys when Cor stopped. 

“Adrian. What is your last name?” 

“Valdeze, why?” Adrian was unsure why Cor was inquiring about her last name. Cor however, maintained his serious look. 

“I knew a sailor named Squama with the same last name years ago. Though he really didn’t like me too well.” Adrian narrowed her eyes. 

“You knew my Grandfather?” Adrian asked. 

Cor nodded. “I did.” 

Adrian’s hands tightened around her atlatl. “Why are you telling me this? Do you know if he’s alive?” 

“I’m saying this because of your weapon. That atlatl is Galahdian made. There’s not many left, Squama was the only man I knew who wielded an atlatl exactly like that. Whether he’s alive, I couldn’t tell you for certain, It was years ago the last time I’ve talked to him. ”

“Galahdian? You must be mistaken, my grandfather wasn’t from this Galahad. Hell I…I’m not even from around here. I’m just a normal person who happened to wind up in a place I don’t belong to. Just Adrian Valdeze. ” Adrian bluntly stated. Cor sighed. 

“A normal person doesn’t just wind up in another place without knowing how. Your grandfather left that weapon for a reason. You should learn how to use it well. It might surprise you.” Adrian sighed as she looked at the weapon in her hand. She then looked back at the cave entrance. Cor noticed Adrian’s behavior. “If you hurry, you can catch up. Just be careful. Daemons are a nasty bunch.” 

Adrian took a deep breath. “You know what. Okay. I’m not going to wuss out.” Adrian puffed up her chest and turned around to head towards the cave. However, she looked back at Cor with a suspicious look. “Wait how did you know my Grandfather?” 

“I will tell you when the time is right. For now just know that there is more to you than you realize. Be careful.” Cor stated. 

Adrian shrugged. “I’ll hold you to that Marshall! I don’t like to be kept in the dark.” She called back as she hurried into the cave. 

Cor sighed as he looked up at the setting sun. “Looks like the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, right Althia.” with that Cor headed back to the hunters outpost. 

Luckily for Adrian, there was dim lighting throughout the cave. Her hands shook as she made her way deeper into the cave. “Guys?” Adrian called out meekly. She held up her weapon as she inched her way around. “Hello?” SLAM!!!

Adrian screamed as she turned around. It was the iron door that she walked through that had slammed shut behind her. She walked up to it and tried to open it. It was locked. “Oh shit!” Adrian started to panick. “No...the guys are in here somewhere. I just...I just need to stay calm and push on.” She took a few baby steps forward when the lights went out. “EEP! SHIT!” Adrian pressed her back against the cold stone wall. Her heart pounded against her chest frantically as she hyperventilated. 

She tightly shut her eyes, shaking from fear. “No...just...calm down…” She opened her eyes and saw that she was surrounded by red malicious eyes. “AHHHHHHHHH!!!” Adrian screamed at the top of her lungs. The dim lights came on and there she saw the monstrosities that were waiting to rip her apart. Blue goblin like creatures with razor sharp teeth leered at Adrian. “Run!” 

Adrian took off for her life with goblins close on her heels. “HELP SOMEONE!!! NOCTIS, PROMPTO, IGNIS, GLADIO….ANYONE HELP!!!” suddenly a clawed hand yanked Adrian’s ankle, tripping her. Out of instinct Adrian took her atlatl and bashed the Goblin’s head. This caused the markings to glow and fire a beam of hot bright light towards Adrian. “AHK!!!” Adrian ducked as the beam hit the stone floor, forcing the beam to bounce off the surface. 

“SHIT!!!” Adrian quickly got up and ducked the haywire beam of light. The goblins were burnt by the light beam, however this just means that it is just as dangerous for herself. Adrian just kept running. She refused to look back, even though the light beam had fizzled out. Adrian didn’t pay attention to where she was running, she made a right then a left. On the way she kept hitting goblins that popped up and try to attack her, a beam of light would shoot out of her atlatl and bounce around before fizzling out.

Suddenly, something tall walked out from a turn and Adrian tackled it to the ground. Her head hit something hard. “OUCH MY HEAD!!!” Adrian cried out as she rubbed the top of her head.

“Ahk you’re telling me, my jaw hurts!” Adrian opened her eyes to see who she tackled was Noctis. He was rubbing his jaw. Adrian turned red after realizing that she was on top of him. 

“Oh shit. Uh I didn’t mean to uhg.” Adrian quickly got off Noctis and then helped him up on his feet. “Sorry...I wasn’t paying attention.” Adrian tried her best to avoid eye contact. She was embarrassed. 

“Hey what was that noise?” from around the corner was Ignis, followed by Gladio, and Prompto. 

“It’s okay, I wasn’t paying attention and bumped into an friend.” Noctis covered for Adrian. Prompto lit up with a big smile. 

“Adrian! How did you get here?” 

“I ran...literally I was running from some goblins.” Adrian blushed out of embarrassment. The guys gave a worried look, especially Prompto.

“Oh shit! You must be terrified. Good thing you ran into us so we can protect you.” Prompto reassured Adrian. Gladio rolled his eyes and smirked. 

“Yea and who's going to protect you?”

“Hey!” Prompto pouted. Adrian couldn’t help but smile.

“Actually, I have a way to fight. I just have to learn how to aim properly.”

Gladio smirked.“Can’t wait to see that.”

Adrian sighed a breath of relief. As long as there was people with her, this cave isn’t as bad. They trekked deeper into the cave, Adrian stayed quiet, listening to the echos of their footsteps and hushed comments. “Noct do you know where we are going?” Prompto asked. 

With a side smirk, Noctis replied. “I’m not a hundred percent sure.” 

“You are joking right?” Adrian nervously asked. She still wasn’t to thrilled with being in a cave, especially after her little run in with goblins. Noctis looked at Adrian. 

“What’s wrong? Can’t take a joke?” 

“Not when said joke is about being lost in underground labyrinths.” Adrian huffed, a tad bit irritated with Noctis’ joke. She pouted and looked away from Noctis. “Great they probably think I’m being a big wuss for being afraid of the dark.” instead she felt something draped over her shoulders. She looked back up at Noctis and noticed that she had Noctis’s jacket on her shoulders. “Wha…” 

“You were shivering. You can borrow that until we get out of the cave.” Noctis bluntly stated. However, Adrian had a hunch that Noctis knew that she was panicking and she couldn’t help but smile. 

“Okay...thanks.” Adrian blushed as she slipped her arms through the sleeves. The jacket was a bit big on her but she didn’t mind. The lights in the cave flickered again and Adrian tighten her grip on her weapon. “Not again…” she whimpered. They came to a steel door. Noctis pushed it open and everyone braced themselves for an ambush. Nothing. 

“Lets keep going.” Noctis stated and they walked into the room. Adrian stayed in the middle of the group when something wet and cold landed on her head.

“YIPE!!!” Adrian jumped and picked up pace, causing her to bump into Noctis again. 

“Hey!” 

“Sorry something dripped on my head. Something really cold.” 

Gladio snorted. “It’s just water Adrian. No need to get too jumpy.” Adrian stuck her tongue out in protest. 

“Not my fault, I just don’t like shit dripping on my head.” she looked up and then turned really pale. Prompto noticed the horrified look plastered on Adrian’s face. 

“Hey Adrian are you okay? You don’t look too good.” Adrian just pointed up with a shaken hand.

“T...th...th...spi...spi…” Noctis looked up and armed himself. 

“Adrian get back!” However Adrian was frozen with fear as the daemon jumped down. A horrific half human, half spider hybrid. Gladio grabbed Adrian by the collar and yanked her back. 

“If you are just going to stand there then get out of the way!” Gladio shouted as they engaged the daemon. This snapped Adrian out of her frozen state. She got to a hiding spot and watched the battle unfold. She was fixated on how they worked together. Each movement was well planned and precise. Adrian couldn’t help but feel inadequate. Suddenly something was grabbing at her leg. She glanced down to see spider daemons the size of pit bulls.

“RAHK GO AWAY YOU DAMN FILTHY SPIDERS!!!” Adrian took her atlatl and attacked the spider daemons. The beam of light shot out and hit the spider, scorching it’s thorax and forcing it to back up. Adrian took a deep breath and smirked. “I think I understand how this weapon works now.” She shot another beam of light at the daemon spiders, keeping them at bay long enough for her to get out of their attacking range. She looked up to see how the guys were fairing. The daemon that they were focused on looked worn out which was good. She then noticed one of the smaller daemons charging at Prompto. “PROMPTO BEHIND YOU!!!” Adrian called out as she aimed and shot a beam of light right at the little daemon. Prompto gasped for a second but then gave a smirked. 

“THANKS ADRIAN!!!” 

Adrian nodded and started to shoot at the smaller daemons that got too close to the main battle. Making sure that the others didn’t get overwhelmed. She didn’t see one of the daemons get too close to her until Ignis threw a dagger at the creature. Adrian jumped and looked at Ignis with a relieved look. “Sorry I didn’t see that one!”

Ignis sighed. “We look out for each other.” he readjusted his glasses, grabbed his dagger, and continue to attack the big daemon. Just then Noctis looked over at Adrian. 

“Adrian use that light to blind that thing!” Adrian took aim and shot a beam right at the creature's face without processing what she was doing. It hit the daemon and it let out a blood curling scream as it backed up. Noctis used this as an opportunity to give the final strike. His sword was plunged deep into the creature’s chest and blackness oozed out. It sank down to the ground lifeless and disappeared in a shadowy cloud that settled to the ground. Noctis looked over at Adrian and smirked. “Thanks Adrian, that last shot helped us out.” 

They regrouped and Gladio ruffled Adrian’s hair. “You had us a little worried there princess. Good thing you got over your cold feet.” Adrian turned red. 

“I uh...well uh.” She stuttered.

Prompto smirked and wrapped an arm around Adrian’s shoulders. “ No need to be so shy Adrian. You kicked ass for your first fight.”

Ignis nodded in agreement. “That’s right, very impressive for your first time. Though I would suggest paying more attention to your surroundings.” 

Adrian nodded. “Right.” she dug the toe of her boot into the ground. She felt a hand on her shoulder and she looked at the gloved hand then up at a pair of blue eyes. “Uh…” 

Noctis gave a small smile. “You did good Adrian. Thanks.” 

“N...No problem Prince Noctis.” 

“Just Noct.” Adrian opened her mouth, but couldn’t say anything. “Adrian?” 

“Oh uh...yea uh...good talk, now uh...let's continue on this mission shall we. Before any more spiders daemon things and goblins...uhk you know what let's get this over with so we can get out of this damn cave because I hate cave.” 

Noctis let out a small chuckle. “Ha ha Okay let’s go.”


	7. Dreaming of an Angel

It wasn’t long until the party reached the end of the cave where there was a royal tomb. “Whoa there was another tomb right near by?” Adrian stated the obvious. Noctis took out a key and opened the door. They walked in, this time Adrian was able to come in and she was in awe at the interior. “Wow...for a tomb this is really pretty.” 

“That sounds kinda creepy.” Prompto stated.

Adrian sighed, “I know. I’m just admiring the architecture.” 

Prompto smiled. “I got it Adrian.” Adrian looked around as Noctis stood in front of the elaborate coffin of his ancestor. Adrian watched as the weapon that the dead king held glowed. It then lifted up into the air, light emanated from it and it looked like it was made of crystal. Adrian gasped as the weapon went through Noctis. Her weapon gave off a faint glow, this time without images flashing in her head. Noctis just took a deep breath and looked at the others. 

“Ready to go?” Adrian tilted her head as she walked up to Noctis and started to poke him. “Adrian...What are you doing?” 

“How did that not hurt you? That was a battle ax that just went through you...er in you?” Noctis sighed, Adrian backed up and pouted. “You’re not going to tell me how that works are you?” 

“Nope.” 

“Hmph...you’re no fun.” Adrian huffed. That earned her a half smile from Noctis. 

They made their way out of the cave with no issues. Adrian was the first to run out. “WOOHOO FREEDOM BABY. I PRAY TO NEVER STEP FOOT IN A CAVE FOR AS LONG AS I LIVE!!!” 

“I wouldn’t count on that princess. Royal tombs could be anywhere.” Gladio teased Adrian.

Adrian frowned. “Damn it.” Noctis then tapped Adrian on the shoulder. Adrian blushed. “Oh yea.” she quickly took off the jacket and handed it back to Noctis. “Thanks for letting me borrow this...It really helped.” 

Noctis took the jacket. “It’s no problem. You looked like you needed.” Adrian bashfully kicked at the ground.

“Yea well...thanks again…” Adrian then puffed out her chest and grinned. “So...with these new fancy weapons, do they boost your abilities or something?” 

“No, they aren’t like that.” Noctis bluntly stated. He sounded a bit tired. 

Adrian furrowed her brows. “Hey you sound tired, are you going to be okay?” 

Noctis smirked. “I’m just can’t wait to flop down on a bed tonight.” 

“I see.” Adrian simply answered. The party headed back to the outpost. They decided to sleep in the camper that night and Adrian couldn’t help but have an odd dream. 

“Hello? Anyone there?” Adrian called out into the desolate hallway. She shivered as she noticed the odd clothing that she was wearing. A light blue silk dress with black lace sleeves and a black corset on top. Adrian couldn’t help but feel out of place in this abandoned hallway. She looked up and noticed a gorgeous woman dressed in white with blond hair. “Excuse me, Ma’am can you tell me where I am?” Adrian asked. The woman gave a soft smile and silently beckoned her to follow. Adrian followed the woman in white down the hallway into a throne room. Adrian gasped at the room. The marble staircase lead up to the throne would have been exquisite if it wasn’t for the fact that it looked like it was blown up. 

The woman gave a sad look as she placed a hand on the throne. “My destiny may not be able to changed. However, you are able to change the destiny of dear Noctis. For that I must thank you, time mage.” Adrian blushed at the title the woman in white. 

“I’m not a time mage ma’am, and what destiny are you talking about?” the woman in white looked up at the sky. A sad smile formed. 

“You will learn in time.” Adrian furrowed her brows, confused by this woman’s words. 

“Who are you if you don’t mind me asking?” the woman smiled. Her smile was beautiful. She had a radiance that Adrian could only describe as divine. 

“Dear time mage, in time we will meet in person. For now this is the safest way for us to talk.” Adrian was very confused. The woman turned away and started to leave. In a sudden panic, Adrian reached out, trying to call back the woman. 

“WAIT DON’T GO!!! I DON’T UNDERSTAND!!! WHAT DESTINY ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?” Adrian fell to her knees as her hands shook as she looked upon a golden color crystal. Strange voices echoed into her ears and one thing stuck out to her. “Daughter of Aevum Magus.”

“Ahk!” Adrian sat up in a cold sweat. She shivered and looked around. 

“Is something wrong Adrian?” Adrian looked at the bunks and noticed that Prompto was up. He had a concerned look. 

“Oh sorry did I wake you?” Adrian asked. Prompto smirked as he hopped out of bed. 

“I’m more of a night owl anyway. Besides with how the big guy snores, I’m surprised that anyone can sleep.” Prompto reassured. “So you wanna talk?” 

Adrian sat up and sighed. “Uh there's nothing to talk about really. I just had a really weird dream that's all.” 

Prompto sighed. “Well it was a tough day for all of us. I bet you are just really stressed.” 

“I guess that makes sense.” Adrian pondered. She glanced over at Noctis, who had successfully turned himself into a human burrito. “Prompto...can you tell me something?”

“Yea?” 

Adrian took a deep breath. “What can you tell me about Insomnia? What was it like.” 

Prompto smiled. “The Crown city was amazing, there were a lot to do there. There were concerts and festivals going on. It was nice, you would have enjoyed it, especially since you draw. Oh can I see what you were working on?” Adrian blushed and took out her sketch book. 

“Don’t tease okay. I’m not done with it.” Adrian warned. Prompto smiled as he looked through Adrian’s sketch book. 

“Hey is that Noct?” Adrian blushed. 

“Y...Yea but I’m not done, the shading isn’t finished and I don’t think I have the eyes right…” 

“Your kidding right? This is awesome. You shouldn’t sell yourself short.” 

Adrian smirked. “You should take your own advice. You have some beautiful photos.” 

Prompto gave a cheesy grin. “Shucks it’s just a few snapshots here and there. Anyway, I should let you get some sleep.” 

Adrian nodded. “You too, night.” Adrian laid back down and looked up at the ceiling. Yet she was still slightly unsettled by the dream she had. Just who was that woman that spoke to her. She sounded so sad, yet when she spoke of Noctis' destiny being changed, she was hopeful. 

The next morning was hectic. Adrian helped out Ignis with breakfast and then dragged Noctis out of bed. They ate while chatting and going over the plan for the day, which included a plan to attack the Nif’s blockade that was keeping them from going to Lestallum. “We’ll have to talk to Monica about taking down the barricade.” Ignis stated. 

“Right.” everyone agreed. The barricade had to be taken down if they were to continue to Lestallum. So they got ready and headed out to talk to Monica. 

Monica spotted the group and waved them down. “Your highness, I’m glad you are up.” 

Noctis nodded. “Same Cor said to talk to you about a plan to take down the barricade?” 

“Yes follow me. I will explain the plan once we get to the entrance point.” with that the party headed out.


	8. Ever seen a Chocobo?

They made it to the secret opening of the barricade. Monica turned to Noctis. “Prince Noctis. You will be going with the Marshal while the rest of us will serve as a diversion.” Adrian watched as Noctis hurried off. Monica then looked over to the rest of the group. “We will serve as a diversion for the prince.” Ignis, Prompto, and Gladio nodded. Adrian placed a hand on her atlatl and smirked. 

“We got this.” Adrian followed everyone to the front of the gate. She tugged on Ignis’s sleeve. “Ignis...will Noctis be okay?” 

Ignis glanced over at Adrian. “Noctis has trained for years under Gladio. Have faith in him.” 

“Uh...right.” Adrian tighten her grip on her weapon. She took in a deep breath. “It’s okay Adrian. You got this. It isn’t your first fight so woman up and stay strong.” 

The group stood in front of the barricade and the Magitek started to shoot at them. Adrian jumped back and to the side to make sure she didn’t get hit. She then raised her atlatl and shot a beam of light and hit one of the soldiers. “GOT YA!!!” Adrian didn’t hesitate in taking out three more soldiers. The adrenalin pumped through her veins giving her an energy boost, Enough to get her through the battle. 

The shooting stopped and the dust settled. “Everyone good?” Gladio asked.

“All good.” Prompto called out. 

“I’m good, Adrian how about you?” Ignis asked out loud. 

Adrian nodded. “Yep all good.” The barricade gates opened and there on the other side of the gate was Cor and Noctis. Adrian smiled. “Noctis, Marshal. Are you guys alright?” Noctis smirked. 

 

“Never better.” 

“We are fine Adrian, Thank you for asking.” Adrian looked up and shivered. 

“Uh...what is that.” Adrian pointed up at the sky. There was a Niflheim airship. 

“So the Prince of Lucis lives.” a voice called out from the airship.

Cor narrowed his eyes, recognizing the voice. “Loqi Tummelt, I must say I wasn’t  
expecting to see you here.” Adrian tilted her head out of confusion. 

“Loqi? Who's he?” 

Cor shook his head. “ He’s a magitek pilot who only seeks fame.” The pilot glared   
distastefully at Cor. 

“I will be glorified as the one who kills Cor the Immortal and end the Lucian royal   
bloodline! Now who the hell is the little girl? She doesn’t wear the Crown guards colors.” 

Adrian huffed angrily, offended by the pilot’s remark about her. “I’m not Lucian...I’m just   
tagging along for the ride and until I find a way to get back home, I will help Noctis kick your scrawny ass.” 

Loqi had a look of offense painted on his face. “How dare you speak like that to me.” 

Adrian just rolled her eyes. “Honey I don’t really care about how I speak to you. To me you are just another face.” 

Loqi didn’t like Adrians remark. He glared disgustingly at Adrian. “To talk to an officer in that tone is disgusting.” 

“And I don’t give a damn about your rank.” Adrian snapped as she narrowed her eyes. She held her head up, mimicking Noctis’ pose. 

“It doesn’t matter. I will wipe all of you off the face of Eos!” The guys watched as a giant monstrosity came down from the ship. Adrian eyes grew large. 

“Uh guys what the hell is that?” everyone prepared to take on the robotic giant.

“Adrian, you and Prompto will take out the snipers while we focus on bringing down Loqi.” Ignis called out. Without question, Prompto and Adrian started to shoot at the snipers. It took Adrian a few hits to take down the MTs, but she was able to take a few down. 

“Hey Prompto how are you doing on your end?” Adrian called out. 

“I would be better if we weren’t getting attacked.” 

Adrian smirked. “At least we know we’re alive!” Adrian hurried off and aimed at the monster robot that Loqi was piloting. She fired a shot at the robotic monstrosity. The shot simply bounced off the metal armor and clipped Adrians arm. “OUCH THAT BURNS!” 

“Ha ha, seems like you were all bark and no bite little woman.” Loqi teased as he continued to shoot at the party.

Adrian growled in detest. “OH YEA THEN GET YOUR BABYFACED ASS OUT OF THAT WALKING METAL CONDOM BEFORE I DRAG YOUR SCRAWNY ASS OUT MYSELF!” 

Cor looked up with a worried expression. “Ari be careful with your abilities!” 

Adrian flinched at the nickname. “Ari...the only other person that called me that was grandpa.” Adrian shook her head. This was no time to ponder on that. She looked around for anything that could be used against the robotic monstrosity. “Obviously light bounces at angles...wait...maybe…” Adrian pondered an idea as she kept an eye out for any MT’s that could be nearby. She hurried up the scaling and looked for the right angle to aim. She spotted the right angle and called out as she aimed. “MARSHAL HOLD UP YOUR SWORD!”

Cor looked up and nodded. He raised his sword up and Adrian shot a beam of light at the sword. It bounced off the sword hit the glass on the monstrosity. “AHK! What was that!?” Ignis, Prompto, and Gladio attacked the legs of the machine while Noctis took the opportunity to use the Ax of the Conqueror. He jumped up and swung the ax down, devastating the machine. It collapsed to the ground, fuel leaked all over from the machine.

Loqi forced himself out of the machine and hurried onto an airship. Adrian noticed that he was clutching his arm. “This isn’t over Cor! I will defeat you!” He then turned his attention to Noctis. “As for you Prince Noctis, I will make sure you are killed along with your friends.” His eyes shifted towards Adrian, they were full of hatred. “Starting with that witch!” Adrian flinched, however she mustered enough courage to return a angry glare and a smirk. 

“Come and try me babyface...but don’t get mad at me if you get your ass thoroughly kicked again.” Cor was standing next to Adrian with a scowl on his face. Loqi smirked. 

“Hmph we’ll see about that.” with that the ship left. 

“Uhg little bastard. ow.” Adrian winced, she glanced at her arm and it looked as if it was burnt. Ignis looked over her arm. “We have some ointments to heal that in the Regalia.” 

“That was a smart move on your part Adrian. Ignis must have been teaching you strategic planning. However, you should be more careful when it comes to that weapon’s ability.” Cor commented on Adrian’s tactics. He then turned to Noctis, “After seeing how you guys fight, I feel more at ease. I will have to take my leave for now and keep an eye on Nif activity. I will see you before you leave for Altissia. Until then, stay safe your highness.” 

“You too Marshal.” Noctis nodded.

Everyone departed from the barricade. Adrian looked up at the sky and sighed. “Damn it’s already almost nightfall...” she shivered and started to pick up the pace. “Lets hurry and get back to the outpost...don’t wanna stand out here while daemons start popping up right?” 

Prompto caught up with Adrian with a smile.“Hey you know we’ve got your back right?” Adrian turned red. 

Then Gladio patted Adrian’s back. “Yea you don’t need to be so tense around us. You’ve proven yourself.” 

Ignis then walked up. “Indeed, you have shown us that you are trustworthy and with more training you could be a valuable member of our team.” Adrian gushed from the guys comments.

Gladio glanced back at Noctis, who was very quite at the moment. “What do you say Noct?” Noctis stared intently at Adrian. His eyes sent shivers down Adrian’s spin.

However he smirked. “What can I say? You proven yourself Adrian and I have no complaints about letting you travel with us. Thought that choice is up to you.” Adrian gasped. She couldn’t find words to reply. 

“Uh Noct...I think we broke her.” Prompto pointed out. 

Adrian shook her head and grinned. “Oh nonono! I’m good...just really...I uh...nobody has ever said anything like that to me. I...I am really grateful that I met you guys.” She smiled as she wiped her eyes. “Damn onion cutting ninjas.” 

“What?” Prompto asked. 

“Oh don’t worry about it. Just a saying from back home.” Adrian let out a soft laugh. There was a lot she had to learn about this world but she also had a feeling that she was going to have quite the adventure. 

The group was on the road early the next morning, Noctis was passed out, Gladio was reading, Prompto was taking pictures, and Adrian was trying to draw while Ignis was driving. Adrian couldn’t help but sigh. “Uhg...I can’t think….” Gladio glanced over at Adrian. 

“Can’t doodle?” Adrian closed her sketchbook and frown. 

“I am drawing a blank.”

Gladio gave a teasing smirk. “I can model for you if you need inspiration.” Adrian turned red and stuck her tongue out.

“You’re really trying to give me a heart attack...besides I’ve drawn you already.” 

“Really can I see?” Adrian eyes grew large and her heart jumped to her throat. 

“Ah...not yet, I still need to draw Prompto and then I want to draw some of the wildlife here.” Adrian stated. She tugged at her braid then looked up at the trees that were passing by. “The upside is that since Prompto takes a ton of pictures, I don’t run out of references to draw and I get to see all sorts of things here.” 

“Oh I know what you could draw.” Prompto suddenly exclaimed.

“Oh?” 

“Chocobos...you should draw a chocobo.” Adrian furrowed her eyebrows. 

“Chocobo? What’s a chocobo?” The look Prompto gave was that of pure shock. Adrian started to worry that she might have broke Prompto. 

“WAIT WHAT!? YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT A CHOCOBO IS?” Prompto exclaimed. Adrian jumped and slowly shook her head. Prompto shook his head and gave a desperate look. They drove past a sign that read chocobo farm and Prompto smiled. “Ignis! We need to go to the chocobo farm!” Ignis glanced over for a second and sighed. 

“That would be up to Noct.” 

“Hu...what would I be up to?” Noctis started to wake up. His hair stuck up at odd angles and he squinted when the light hit his face. “Uhg...it’s bright.” 

“We’ll have to pull over for gas.” Ignis stated and then Prompto smirked.

“Hey Noct we need to go to the chocobo farm!” Noctis blinked and let what Prompto said set in. 

“Chocobo farm? Did we pass one?” Noctis asked. He was trying to catch up on what he slept through. 

“Yes! It’s very important. Especially since Adrian has never been exposed to their adorableness!” Adrian wanted to hide as Noctis glanced at her with a look of disbelieve. Adrian started to tug at her braid again. 

“Uh well...we don’t have chocobos back home so...” Noctis glanced at Prompto, who was giving a pleading look. 

“Okay, Chocobo farm it is.” 

Gladio sighed. “We need to make this quick. I don’t want to keep my sister waiting.” 

Prompto smiled. “It’ll be quick and besides, we need to take a little breather after our last fight.” 

Adrian looked over at Gladio, she understood his concern. However, he just sighed.“Fine.”

Adrian kept tugging at her braid. “We will get to your sister Gladio, I can’t wait to meet her.”

Gladio smirked, “You two will get along. You’re both artsy.” 

“Really? What does she do?” Adrian’s eyes lit up happily. 

“She sews, Love to look at different fabrics and can sew plushies.” 

“Really! That’s awesome!”


	9. The battle against Deadeye

The drive to the chocobo farm wasn’t too long. However, Adrian did feel a little stiff in the legs. She was relieved when Ignis turned the car down a dirt road that lead to a parking spot. Everyone got out and stretched out their stiff limbs. Prompto grabbed Adrian and Noctis and excitedly dragged then towards the farm. “Chocobos! Let's go see the Chocobos!” Prompto excitedly exclaimed. 

“Hey slow down! Prompto your legs are longer than mine!” Adrian panted as she had to leap just to keep up.

“Oops sorry haha.” Prompto smiled and giggled. Adrian caught her breath and then looked around. 

“So uh...where are these Chocobos?” Adrian asked. She could see where there were stalls for a larger animal. Yet there were no animals. Noctis furrowed his brows. 

“Lets ask around.” they split up and asked around. Noctis was the one who found the owner of the Chocobo farm named Wiz. He asked about the Chocobos and found out that there was a Behemoth, that the locals have nicked named Deadeye, roaming around and terrorizing the Chocobos. Therefore, the chocobos weren’t let out on their own. The group sat down at a table and went over their options. 

“So what now? Do we just head to Lestallum?” Adrian asked.

Prompto looked offended at her comment. “And let those poor chocobos get terrified by a monster no way! We have to help.” 

“Once we rid Wiz of Deadeye we could use the Chocobos to our advantage. Especially when we travel to camp sites and look for food.” Ignis stated. He then looked over at Noctis. “However, The decision is up to you Noct.” 

Noctis looked at the flyer for the hunt. “I think it’s worth looking into.” Prompto jump up with a determined look. 

“Awesome! Lets save the Chocobos!” Adrian couldn’t help but feel energized by Prompto’s enthusiasm. 

She got up with a hand on her weapon and smirked. “I’m pumped now, let's go!” 

Meanwhile in the heart of the Niflheim empire ,Gralea, the Niflheim throne room was buzzing after news of the attack on one of their barricades. Emperor Ledolas was agitated by the news and of Loqi’s failed attempt on the Lucian Prince’s life. However this also gave him interesting news concerning a member of Noctis’s group. A peculiar woman with an ability that wasn’t like Lucian magic. This piqued the Emperor's interest. “A woman with abilities like the Lucian royal family but with no ties to Lucis Caelums. Hmm.” He looked over at one of his adviser. 

“Tell Arenea that I am adding another target on her list. This woman that wields strange magic. I must learn more about where her powers come from and whether I can use it to fuel my crystal.” the assistant bowed and hurried off. Ledolas got up and headed over to the hanger where the crystal was being held. He narrowed his eyes, “What secrets to you hold and what do you see in that woman? I want to know all your secrets.” 

 

Back in Eos, the party was making their way through the woods as they tracked Deadeye. A dense fog had settled in and visibility was poor. “Damn it, it’s too hard to see.” Adrian whispered. 

“This fog gives us the tactical advantage for tracking the beast.” Ignis replied. 

“Oh.” They crept through the eerie fog covered woods until they found a path where the trees have been snapped. Noctis pointed out the claw marks.

“Look like it went that way.” 

Prompto gasped. “Holy shit these claw marks are huge.” 

Gladio rolled his eyes. “And who’s smart idea was it to go after this thing?”

Prompto turned red. “Uh...Noct’s idea?” 

Noctis just gave a disgruntled look but said nothing. Adrian forced a laugh. “So...if the claw marks up about half way up the trees...then the size of the behemoth is uh...well it’s pretty big isn’t it?” 

Gladio nodded. “Oh yea, behemoths are big. Really big.” 

“Ha...ha...great...we are going to die.” Adrian joked, which earned her a fearful look from Prompto.

“Hey don’t say stuff like that!” Prompto pleaded. Adrian gave a cheeky grin as they ventured further into a rocky path. 

Thirty minutes into the trek and they reached a point where the party had to crawl through a small area to continue their pursuit of the behemoth. Gladio entered first, followed by Noctis, Ignis, Prompto, and lastly Adrian. Quietly, Adrian and the boys crept through the small passage until Gladio stopped, looked back and gave a signal to stay quiet. Adrian covered her mouth in horror as she spotted a giant, fanged mouth looming right above them. The monster’s fangs were stained and saliva oozed out of it’s mouth. They stayed very still out of fear that the creature may attack if it spotted them. Gladio looked over at Noctis and pointed to his right eyes and mouthed that the creature was blind. They watched as the Behemoth slowly walked away from the opening. 

Gladio looked back at everyone. “That was Deadeye.” Adrian had to swallow down her fears and forced herself to follow the boys to the other side of the passage. The party continued on tracking Deadeye. Adrian couldn’t help but notice that the fog had thickened and night was falling, she was about to turn on her flashlight when Noctis placed a hand on her shoulders. 

“Don’t turn that on yet. We don’t want Deadeye to see us.” He whispered to Adrian, 

“How would it see us if it’s blind in it’s right eye?”

Ignis sighed. “It could possibly sense light and it’s not blind in its left eye.” Adrian frowned because she knew that Ignis was right. Slowly, Noctis went ahead of the group and signaled when it was clear to follow. After what felt like hours, they reached Deadeye’s layer. 

“So now that we know where Deadeye lives, what do we do now?” Adrian asked as she slipped through the narrow opening. Ignis ,who was in front of her, looked back at her. 

“We come up with a strategy to take down the beast.” 

Adrian nodded. “Right...and what would that plan be?” 

Gladio smirked. “Take down Deadeye.” Adrian pouted like a child. She wasn’t amused by Gladio’s smart ass remark. Looking around the first area, Adrian noticed rocks that glowed red.

“Whoa why are these rocks glowing red?” Noctis noticed the rocks that Adrian was pointing to and sighed a breath of relief. 

“Good eye Adrian. Those will help us.” Adrian furrowed her eyebrows. 

“How?”

“I’ll explain after we take down Deadeye.” Noctis simply answered. Adrian was a little irritated with this but she decided it wasn’t the best idea to pick a fight with Noctis. Mainly because they were in a dangerous monsters layer and she didn’t want to be monster food. Once they all climbed up the stone wall, they came across the main area where the monster lived. Adrian shivered at the sight of this monster. 

“That thing could make a meal out of you guys.” 

Gladio smirked. “Leaving yourself out?” 

“No...I’m less than an appetizer to that thing…” 

Gladio ruffled Adrian’s hair. “You’re right. Compared to that monster you’re small fry.” Adrian was about to say a sassy remark when the guys jumped down and a battle ensued. Noctis warping from place to place, Prompto shooting his pistols, Ignis throwing his daggers, and Gladio swinging his great sword. Adrian hopped into the fray and aimed her atlatl. She fired a few shots at the beast. However her attacks seemed to just irritate the monster. 

“Shit!” Adrian backed up and ducked under cover as the Behemoth charged at her. 

“ADRIAN!!!” Someone called out. Adrian however was too focused on the beast. She was trying to watch its movements. She aimed her weapon and fired. The shot hit the monsters face and it looked directly at Adrian. With one pale glazed eye and one black eye, Deadeye fixated on Adrian with a hungry, bloodthirsty, look. Adrian narrowed her eyes and charged forward. She jump and dodged out of the way, nearly getting hit by Deadeyes claws. A familiar blue light zipped right by her and Noctis appeared behind her. “Adrian here!” Noctis handed Adrian something round and warm. 

“Uh what is…” 

“Throw it at the barrels now!” Noctis pointed at the red barrels. Adrian nodded and threw the ball at the barrels. A blazing inferno erupted from the barrels and Deadeye reared back vicious. Noctis grabbed Adrian. “You don’t get sick easily do you?” 

“What?!” before Adrian could comprehend what Noctis was talking about, he threw his sword and both he and Adrian warped. This opened up a window for Gladio to deliver the final blow. 

“Phew...that was a little tougher than I thought.” Gladio smirked. “Everyone alive?”

Prompto and Ignis called out, saying that they were fine. Noctis nodded. “I could use a nap, I’ve got nothing left in me.” He then looked over at Adrian, who was very pale in the face. “Uh Adrian?” 

“I’m...uhg I’m seeing double.” Adrian sat down on the ground and held her head. Noctis knelt down and placed a hand against her back.

“Adrian?” 

“I don’t see how you don’t get motion sickness from that. I think I left my lunch back with Deadeye.” Noctis smirked. 

“Here.” Adrian looked up and saw a potion in his hand. She took it and forced herself to swallow it down. Her stomach was starting to settle down. 

“Thanks…” Adrain got up and smiled. “Also...Noctis what was that thing you handed me?” 

“Oh that was a magic flask. And in it was fire magic that was extracted from that rock you saw earlier.” Noctis simply stated. This interested Adrian. 

“Oh so you basically made a bomb out of magic...how did you...” 

“Members of the Lucian royal family are the only ones able to extract magic.” Adrian frowned, She wanted to try out making magic bombs out of rocks but since she was sure she wasn’t related to Noctis in any way, that meant no magic extracting for her. Noctis caught her odd look and raised a brow. “What’s that look for?” 

“Oh nothing...just listening to my hopes and dreams come crashing down into oblivion.” Noctis rolled his eyes and chuckled. 

“Okay there was a camp nearby, let's make camp tonight and tell Wiz the good news tomorrow.”


	10. A little argument

Later that evening, Adrian had drifted deep into her dreamscape. She was at the beach, the stars burned brightly, reflecting off the glass surface of the ocean and blurring the horizon line between the heavens and the seas. It was breathtaking. Adrian lied back in the sand and smiled. This was relaxing, even if it was just a dream. “Adrian.” a woman’s voice echoed. Adrian sat back up and spotted the woman in white again. 

“Oh Hi there...we’ve met before in another dream haven’t we?” Adrian asked the woman in white. Her smile was gentle and kind, her blue eyes seemed to sparkle with the starlight. Adrian couldn’t help but feel like this woman could be an angel. 

“Yes we have met. I’m here to talk to you about your abilities.” Adrian sat up and sighed. 

“I already said I’m not a mage. I am just a normal woman who ended up here.” the woman sighed and placed a delicate hand on Adrian’s shoulder. 

“The first thing you need to know is that things always happen for a reason. It isn’t a coincidence that you came here. There is a path that you must follow.” Adrian looked away from the woman and sighed. 

“But why me? I have a family back home. My dad, my step mom, and my baby half brother must be very worried about me. As far as I am concern I’m just an average person that just got plucked out of my own world and thrown into this mess.” the woman gave a sad expression. Almost pity as Adrian paced back and forth. 

“The Astrals and the crystals are powerful things. Things that require sacrifice.” Adrian glanced back at the woman in white with a worried look. 

“Astrals and Crystals? I don’t understand.”

The woman sighed. “Astrals are divine beings.” 

Adrian tilted her head. “So Gods and Goddesses yes?” 

“Yes.” Adrian frowned, remembering that Noctis did mention something about a crystal. 

“Wait does Noctis have a connection to this Crystal?” the woman smiled as she walked up to the water’s edge. 

“Yes, Noctis and his ancestors have guarded the Crystal of Eos for generations. In exchange for protection, The Crystal grants his family magic. You have something similar.” 

Adrian just snorted a laugh. “As far as I know my home doesn’t have a crystal. It doesn’t have magic or anything remotely like magic. Hell I didn’t have this light magic craziness until I ended up here.” Adrian shrugged and looked up at the sky. “Besides this is all just a dream anyway right, the stars and the sea here, it isn’t real. What makes you think that I would remember this when I wake up?” She knelt down and touched the surface of the water, letting the little waves disrupt the stars reflection. 

The woman in white knelt down next to Adrian. “Dreams are just the reflections of who we are as a person. They show us truths that we need to interpret even if we don’t like what we see.”

“Like telling me that I have some kind of reason for being here?” the woman in white nodded. Adrian sighed and looked at her reflection in the water. “If I was meant to be here, then tell me why? Why is someone like me here? What is my purpose? Why am I so special?” Adrian got up, her eyes watered. 

The woman look upon her with sad eyes. “Your Crystal brought you here for a reason. You ran into Noctis and his friends for a reason. I believe that your path and Noctis’ path has been intertwined for a long time. It is a path only you can follow.” 

Adrian backed up from the woman in white. She could feel the blood rushing from her face. “No...I...I can’t. I’m not some hero.” Adrian turned and started to run away from the woman. She didn’t want to listen to what the woman was saying anymore. “Just let me go home!” Adrian ran up to the edge of a cliff and gasped. There in the desert valley was a burning city. Screams filled the air and the scent of burning corpses filled Adrian’s nostrils “Oh God! What happened!?” 

“Adrian...Adrian wake up!” a faint voice called out to Adrian. She looked around frantically for the voice and as she tried to run something grabbed her leg and pulled her over the ledge. 

“AHHHHH!!!” Wack! 

“OW!” Adrian blinked as she found herself back in the tent. In front of her was Noctis rubbing his forehead. “Damnit! What was that for?” 

Adrian realized that she must have hit her head against Noctis. “Oh...uh...wait why were you…” 

Before Adrian could finish her question, Noctis interrupted her. “You kicked me awake and it looked like you were having a nightmare. I just wanted to make sure you were okay jeez.” Noctis retorted grumpily. Adrian blushed, realizing that she probably irritated the poor guy. 

“Wha...oh um...Look it wasn’t like I did that on purpose!” Adrian snapped. Noctis just shook his head. Adrian took that as him not wanting to fight either. 

This earned her an irritated look from the prince. “And I’m not in the mood to argue, so quit yelling.” 

“Hmph I wasn’t yelling. I was just talking loudly.” Adrian rudely retorted. She was just as irritated with Noctis’s attitude as he was with her. Adrian then noticed that Noctis’s eyes looked darker, like two orbs of stormy blue oceans. She couldn’t help but feel a bit intimidated by his glare. 

“Is there anything else you would like to say?” his voice was straining to not yell at Adrian. 

Adrian shook her head, got up, and headed out.“I’m going to go out for a breather. I need to think things through.” Noctis didn’t say anything. He just looked away grumpily. 

The cool air was refreshing, at least to Adrian. This was better than having to deal with an irritated royal. She sat down in one of the camping chairs and sighed. “Damn dweeb, why was he being so nosy?” Adrian looked up at the sky. There were millions of stars up there. She couldn't help but feel a little sad. This reminded her of home. “Guess it doesn’t matter where you are...the stars are always shining.” Adrian could feel her eyes started to water. “I...I don’t know what to do...I just need a sign, where do I belong?” She let a sob escape her throat. “Damn...I am such a crybaby.”

Ignis was the first to wake up the next morning. He step outside and noticed Adrian curled up on a chair. Ignis sighed grabbed a blanket and draped it over Adrian. He then proceeded to start cooking. “Eggs and toast should suffice.” while Ignis was frying the eggs.

Gladio came out and stretched. “Hmm smells good Iggy.” Gladio commented. 

Ignis just adjusted his glasses. “We will have to leave a little early if we are to make it back to Wiz’s farm by noon.” 

Gladio nodded. “I’ll get Noct and Prompto up.” he then looked over to where Adrian was sleeping. “Damn shes passed out.”

“It was a long day yesterday. I don’t fault her for being tired.” 

“Yea but we need to keep going.” Gladio shook Adrian wake. “Hey wake up princess. We’re burning daylight.” 

“Uhg five more minutes dad…”Adrian mumbled. She wiped away the sleep from her eyes and realized that she was outside. “oh...shit I must have fallen asleep.” She looked embarrassed that she had slept outside. 

Gladio just snorted from amusement. “So you rather sleep out in the cold?” Adrian frowned silently and proceeded to fiddle with the strand of curly hair that hung in her face.

“I...hmm.” Gladio and Ignis both pick up on Adrian's gloomy aura. 

“Hey are you feeling okay.” Gladio asked, Adrian quickly gave a cheery smile.

“Oh yea I’m fine, just a bit tired that is all.” Gladio gave her a suspicious look. However he didn’t pry. Just then Prompto walked out of the tent. 

“Morning.” he looked sore as well but he had a smile on his face. “Oh hey uh I got Noct up, he’s…”

“Over here.” Noctis poked his head out from the tent with a grouchy tired look on his face. Adrian had to cover her mouth to keep herself from making a snarky remark. It was too early to start arguing again.   
They ate breakfast, packed up camp, and headed for Wiz’s farm. Once they got there, Adrian noticed that there was these big yellow birds with saddles on their backs.

“Holy cow! What are those?” Adrian exclaimed loudly.

“Those are chocobos!” Prompto exclaimed happily. 

Adrian smiled like a child and quietly walked up to the big bird. “It...it won’t bite right?” Prompto shook his head. 

“No way here.” Prompto found some chocobo feed and handed it to Adrian. “Just give that to one and you’ll see how wonderful chocobos are.” 

Adrian shyly walked up to the chocobo and held out her hand full of chocobo feed. The giant bird nuzzled Adrian’s hand. She smiled as the bird took the food. She patted the chocobo’s head.   
“You are a cutie pie aren’t ya.” Adrian said as she patted the soft feathers. This was oddly satisfying. Wiz came up to the group with a smile. 

 

“The Chocobos and I are really grateful for what you guys did. Now I can rent the birds out.” 

Noctis gave a small smirk. “It was no problem.” Noctis then thought about the royal tombs. Maybe there was one near by. “Oh Wiz I do have a question. Do you know if there is any royal tombs nearby here?” 

Wiz pondered this for a moment. “Hmm actually I think there is one in FallGroves. It’s not that far from here.” 

Noctis looked over at Ignis.“If it’s nearby we could go over and check it out real quick.” Ignis nodded at Noctis’s suggestion. 

“We should brace for enemies though, we don’t know how dangerous it will be to get to the tomb.” Noctis nodded and then rented out five chocobos. 

Wiz also handed Noctis a whistle. “Here ya go, it you need to call for a chocobo just blow on that and they will come.” 

“Okay thank you.” 

Adrian hadn’t been looking at the group, she was busy doodling the birds. “Adrian over here.” Prompto called out. Adrian looked up and closed her book. 

“Yea?” She hurried over towards the group. Noctis was already mounting a chocobo. It was obvious what they were doing. “Wait...we’re riding chocobos?” 

“Yea you’re going to love this.” Prompto said excitedly. Adrian hesitated as she looked at the bird she was supposed to mount. She took a deep breath to relax her nerves and heaved herself up onto the bird. The Chocobo kewed and backed up flapping its wings. 

“Eh! Whoa there calm down please! I’m new at this take it easy!” Adrian panicked. 

Wiz hurried up to Adrian’s Chocobo and calmed the bird down. “Chocobos can pick up on how the rider feels. You should relax.” Adrian gave a calmed sigh. 

“Okay...boy….I’m calm now.” the chocobo responded calmly to Adrians cooing. 

Wiz smirked.“See. Now you guys be careful. Costlemark tower is nearby fallgroves. Don’t go in there, it's full of Daemons.”   
Noctis nodded and the group took off towards Fall groves.


	11. Homesickness

“So Fallgroves has a royal tomb?” Adrian called out to Ignis. 

Ignis looked back and nodded. “Probably, we will have to check to see if the rumors are true.”

Adrian pondered this. Her mind was wandering to the second thing Wiz said, be wary of Costlemark tower. “What is Costlemark tower? What's so dangerous about it?” Adrian asked  
out loud. She was curious about the tower and why people would be worried about it. 

Ignis pondered Adrian's question. He adjusted his glasses and looked back at Adrian.   
“We don't know too much about Costlemark only that it was built by an ancient civilization called Solheim. The only reason it's dangerous is due to the high concentration of Daemons inside it.”

Adrian furrowed her brows out of concern. “Daemons...great that sounds lovely.” Adrian sarcastically retorted. “Luckily we aren’t going there.” she mused to herself as they neared Fallgroves. Behind the trees, Adrian could see the white stone structure of the lucian king’s tomb. She still couldn’t get over how intricate and beautiful the tomb looked. “Wow….” Adrian let a pleased sigh out.

Noctis however turned pale. “The door….it’s broken.” He hopped off the chocobo and hurried over to the entranced. There was pieces of stone littering the floor. Noctis sighed and hurried inside the tomb. 

“Noct wait up buddy!” Prompto rushed in behind him, followed by Gladio and Ignis.

Adrian was the last to get off the chocobo and she looked back behind her. In the distances was the ruins of a huge tower. “That must be Costlemark.” Adrian thought out loud. She couldn’t help but shiver at the sight. Part of her wanted to say that it was incredible, it easily could be a world wonder. Yet there was something nagging at the back of her mind. Something made her feel uncomfortable looking at the tower. She shivered and hurried into the tomb. 

Noctis was reading a letter from Hunter HQ. “Damnit.” was all that Noctis said. Adrian was a bit lost until she looked at the ornate coffin. There was no weapon in sight. “We’ll have to come back here at another time.” 

“Why? If the royal arm isn't here, then shouldn't we try to track it down?” Adrian bluntly asked. 

“If you feel strong enough to go through Costlemark tower go ahead.” Noctis answered plainly. Adrian looked back towards Costlemark and pondered. She took a deep breath and ran out the tomb, Leaving a shocked look on the guys faces. “Adrian!” 

“I can do it! I’ll help get back that royal arm for you prince Noctis! Just trust me!” Adrian called back as she mounted her chocobo. Before any of the guys could stop her, Adrian took off.

“Damn idiot.” Gladio shook his head. Noctis didn’t say a word as he swiftly got on his chocobo and chased after Adrian. Prompto followed closely behind.

“Reckless.” Ignis huffed as he and Gladio chased behind Noctis and Prompto. 

Noctis was able to catch up to Adrian. “Adrian stop!”Adrian glanced back at Noctis and frowned. She didn’t want to deal with Noctis so she just ignored him. This irritated Noctis, so he went ahead of her and stopped in front of her. 

Adrian was forced to stop and she glared at Noctis with a distasteful look.“Get out of the way Noctis. You may be a prince but status does not matter to me!” 

Noctis narrowed his eyes, aggravated by Adrian’s reckless antics. “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me why you think this suicide mission is a good idea!” Noctis snapped at Adrian. 

His words struck Adrian and she looked down. “Why would you care? You wouldn’t understand.” her voice trembled. 

“Understand what? All I can see is a woman with a sudden death wish. You’ve been acting weirder than usual since last night.” Noctis stated. Adrian clenched her jaw and said nothing. Prompto came up, shortly followed by Ignis and Gladio. 

“What the hell was that all about?” Gladio asked. 

“That was very reckless Adrian, especially since Daemons will be coming out soon.” Ignis scolded and Prompto had a worried look.

Adrian looked away from the group. Her hands trembled as they rested on her atlatl. Just from touching that, she thought about her Grandfather. Her mind ran as questions bombarded her. “He...he knew about this place and never told a soul. He came here with this damn thing and sold it off. Hell even Cor knew about him. And what about dad...did dad know? Or mom...is this the reason why Grandpa never talked about her?” Adrian was overcome by many questions, each one she mentally asked made her sick to the stomach. She quietly got off her chocobo.

Ignis was the first to noticed how pale Adrian looked. “Adrian, are you feeling alright?” Ignis calmly asked. Adrian shook her head and turned away. 

“I...I have to go...I can’t just sit here.” Adrian mumbled, her voice quivered.

Noctis got off his chocobo and walked up behind Adrian, unsure of how to approach her.“A…” Noctis couldn’t find the right words. Adrian wiped her face and took a few shaky breaths. 

“Don’t...it’s...I’m just...everything is hitting me so fast. This world and everything is a lot to take in at once.” Adrian forced out a soft laugh. “Ha I...I guess it just hit me how….different I was compared to… what I thought was home...the more time I spend here the more I realize that maybe...I didn’t really belong. It really sucks you know. To not know why something happened or why I am even here.” Adrian turned around and held a stern look. “The worst part of this is that...I don’t know what’s true anymore. My grandfather sold this atlatl here which means he knew about this place. However he never said a single word. I guess what I am trying to say it that...I’m angry, I’m confused and angry at him for not saying anything, and I’m scared that I’m going to learn something that will destroy what I thought I had. I don’t want to forget home...but I feel like…something isn’t clicking and I don’t what to lose what I thought I had.” Adrian admitted. 

Noctis took a deep breath and sighed. “Do you honestly think we wouldn’t understand what you’re going through?” Adrian looked at all the guys, shocked by what Noctis just said. “Look...all our lives were turned upside down in a matter of days, it wasn’t too long ago, I was saying goodbye to my father. But now…” Noctis fell silent for a moment to find his words. “But now we have to get things straighten out. It wasn’t what we planned for. But going out and rant about going into a dangerous area isn’t going to fix what happened especially when you have four very capable people here who would be willing to listen to you. But just like how we gave you a chance...you have to give us a chance as well.” 

Prompto chimed in. “Yea we have to help each other out and you can trust us.” 

Gladio sighed and nodded. “We are in the same boat whether you like it or not so don’t act so crazy again. I might have to kick your ass if you do.” 

Ignis was the last to say his statement. “Indeed, you don’t need to keep things closed off. Mainly because we will find out sooner or later.” Adrian was at a lost for words. She hadn’t expected them to say anything like that. 

“Guys...you….god damn it...you’re going to make me cry.” Adrian whimpered.

Gladio walked up and rested his arm on top of her head. “You’re not allowed to cry. You’ll make me feel bad if you do.” Adrian turned red and swatted at Gladio’s arm. 

“Hey! Arm off the head! I’m not your personal armrest.” Adrian huffed and then realized that the mood had lighten up. She couldn’t help but let a smile show. “Okay okay let’s go get the car and head to Lestallum.” 

Unknown to the group, Loqi was nearby watching their movements. He narrowed his eyes as he kept watch on his targets. “I’ll let the magitek distract the Prince and his group while I nab the witch in the midst of the fight. She may be able to cast light but from what I could tell in our last battle, she’s a little slow when it comes to situational awareness.” he smirked as he sent out Magitek soldiers towards the group. 

The party got ready to head back to the farm when Prompto shivered. He looked up and gasped. “Magitek above us!” everyone looked up and braced themselves for a fight. The Magitek jumped down from the air ship. 

Their glowing red eyes sent shivers down Adrian’s back. “Ahk those psycho robots are creepy like always.” She retorted as she shot a beam of light at the robotic monstrosity.

“Well at least you're familiar with them now. So just fight and stay aware.’” Noctis stated. Behind him a magitek was ready to strike Noctis down. 

“PRINCE NOCTIS DUCK!!!” Adrian aimed and fired at the magitek as Noctis ducked down. He spun around and sliced the mechanical fiend in two. Adrian smirked as she helped Noctis up onto his feet. “You should take your own advice your highness.”

“No need for formalities Adrian.” Noctis said as he hurried to help Prompto. Adrian slung her atlatl, picking off MTs one by one. 

“Hu...I think I’m getting better at this.” Adrian said out loud. Suddenly, something grabbed a fist full of Adrian’s hair and yanked back harshly “AHHHHK!!” Adrian shrieked as she was pulled back. An armored arm wrapped around her waist while another armored hand grabbed her throat. Adrian cringed as she felt her captor’s breath against her ear. 

“You should have paid more attention to your surroundings little witch.” Adrian growled as she recognized the voice. It was Loqi. Adrian pulled and struggled to get out of Loqi’s iron grip. “Struggle all you want witch, but Niflheim will make good use of you and your abilities.” 

“ADRIAN!” Noctis called out. He was fighting off MT’s that got in his way of reaching Adrian. 

“You won’t get away with this Loqi.” Adrian hissed.

“Oh and how will you stop me?” Loqi egged Adrian on. 

“Easy…” Adrian aimed her atlatl towards herself and Loqi and closed her eyes. “WITH THIS!!!” Light flashed brightly, blinding Loqi. Adrian then quickly pushed Loqi back. 

“AHK SON OF A BITCH!!!” Loqi yelled as he tried to regain his stance. Adrian balled up her hands into fists and started to swing punches at Loqi, hitting him square in the jaw. 

“Serves you right you baby faced creep!” Adrian screamed as she backed up from Loqi, panting heavily. 

Loqi wiped the blood from his chin and glared. “Don’t think this is the last time I strike. I will capture you for the empire of Niflheim, and we will use your powers to finally win this war.” with that Loqi ran back to the airship. Adrian aimed and fired one last shot of light at the airship. 

“DAMN YOU!!! I WON’T TAKE PART OF NIFLHEIM’S FUCKING WORLD DOMINATION PLANS!!!” Adrian screamed at the top of her lungs as she was ready to shoot another shot at the airship.

“Adrian!” a hand grabbed Adrian’s raised arm. Adrian wouldn’t look at the person who grabbed her arm, she knew it was Noctis, there was no point in trying to fight him. Instead she dropped her weapon and looked down. 

“Damn that fucking asshole.” Adrian hissed. She looked up at Noctis. “I’m not a witch...am I?” 

Noctis shook his head. “Don’t let it get to you. Besides are you okay?” 

“Yea...I am.” Adrian assured Noctis. She pulled her hand away from Noctis and blushed. “So...uh...lets go before we get attacked again.”


	12. The city of Lestallum

The next day was slow and the group was back in the car on the road to Lestallum. Noctis was looking off at the distance. Everyone was quite. Adrian was barely able to keep her eyes open. “Uh...so...tired…” Adrian mumbled. Noctis glanced back at the half dead woman next to him. She looked as if she was going to fall alseep at any moment. In her hand was her sketchbook and a pencil. Curiosity took hold and Noctis tried to get a better look at what Adrian was drawing. It looked like she was trying to draw Ignis cooking. He was impressed by Adrian’s attention to detail while drawing. 

“Why couldn’t she do that when she fights?” Noctis thought to himself. although he didn’t bug her too much about it because he wasn’t much better about details. 

“Noct what are you staring at?” Gladio asked. He noticed that Noctis was leaning forward a little more than normal. 

“Hu...oh just...nothing.” Noctis bluntly stated as he sat back up and avoided Gladio’s question.

“Right...you do know she’s not going to like it if you are trying to sneak a peek.” Noctis blushed, then proceeded to shoot an unamused glared at Gladio. 

“I wasn’t trying to pull anything, just looking at her drawing.” Gladio looked over and noticed the drawing. He nodded with a smirk. 

“Not bad.” Adrian started to quietly snore. Gladio chuckled at the sight. “And she’s out.” 

Noctis grew slightly concerned for Adrian’s artwork. “Should we try to get that pencil out of her hand?” Gladio noticed where Noctis was going and quietly pulled the pencil out of her hand. Adrian didn’t even move. 

“There now she won’t stab herself.” Gladio teased. Noctis just sighed and looked back out at the scenery. Adrian had the right idea, he closed his eyes when he felt something lean against his arm. He looked over and saw that Adrian had fell onto his arm, her long thick black hair seemed to blend into his jacket. She seemed at peace, which was the opposite to how she normally acted. Noctis closed his eyes again, hoping that nothing will distract him from his cat nap.

It was only a few minutes later when Noctis was being woken up again. “Damn it.” Noctis groaned. He forgot that Adrian was leaning against him so when he shifted to stretch out his arms, Adrian nearly fell over. 

“Ngh...ahk!” Adrian woke herself up and gasped when she realized that she was leaning on Noctis. “Oh sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep on you...Hey Ignis what’s up?” Adrian stuttered over her words. Noctis smirked, he was amused by how easily flustered Adrian was. 

Prompto turned around and smiled.“Morning sleepy heads. Ignis was just saying that we are nearly there.” Prompto said cheerfully. 

Adrian smiled. “Awesome. I can’t wait to get out of the car.” Adrian stretched out her arms and the put away her sketchbook. Just as she looked up and noticed in the distance a city. “Is that Lestallum?” 

Prompto smiled. “Yep I can’t wait!” Adrian smiled as she looked over at the city. A bright smile grew on her face. 

“So tell me what is Lestallum like?” Adrian asked. She was excited about this city.

“This is our first time going to Lestallum as well. This will be an experience.” Ignis explained. 

Adrian tilted her head. “Wait have you guys ever traveled outside of the crown city?” 

Ignis shook his head. “No, Mainly because it is risky for us to travel beyond the wall.” Adrian contemplated this and thought it made sense since Noctis was of royal blood so it would have made him a higher target. Noctis smirked at Adrian, her innocent curiosity was endearing.

“...Adrian…” He let the name slip his mouth, Adrian looked over at Noctis with her coffee colored eyes. 

“What’s up?” Adrian asked. Noctis hadn’t meant to say her name out loud.

“Uh...well I...That drawing you were working on was nice. The one with Specs…” 

Adrian furrowed her brows, a worried expression grew on her face. “Oh you saw that. That wasn’t done yet. I promise I’ll let you see it when it’s fully finished. I have a couple others that needs a few touch ups here and there.” Adrian started to tug at a strand of curly ebony hair nervously. 

“Others?” Prompto asked as he showed a bright smile. “Did you draw all of us?” Adrian started to turn red. 

“Well I uh...kinda...yea...but I’m not showing those yet! I still need to tweak some of them! It takes time to come up with a proper image. Especially Noctis’ His eyes are being such a pain to shade right!” Adrian exclaimed loudly. She then quickly covered her mouth, realizing that she has said too much. Noctis couldn’t hide the look of shock as Prompto and Gladio bursted out laughing. Even Ignis let out a chuckle. Adrian hid her face in her hands. “God damn it. I didn’t mean to say that out loud!” 

Gladio looked over at Noctis and teased. “Hey Noct you had to be difficult didn’t ya?” 

“Hey I didn’t…” Noctis started to protest, but Prompto interjected.

“I know how Adrian feels when it comes to taking photos of you hahaha and drawing is really tough so ease up for her will ya hahaha.” 

“I... Hey wait what are you implying?!” Noctis stammered over his words.

Adrian took a few deep breaths and sighed. “Well no point in trying to hide it...Hold on Noctis I’ll pull up what I have…” She sounded slightly disappointed with herself. 

“Wait you don’t have to show me your drawing if you don’t want to yet. There’s no pressure.” Noctis tried to assure Adrian but she was already flipping through her book. 

“Na...it’s fine. Actually I think an opinion would help me out with your drawing.” Adrian smiled and handed Noctis her sketchbook. Noctis was in awe from the drawing. It was clearly an image him staring off into the distance.

“Wow...Adrian this is really nice.” Noctis commented quietly as he handed back the sketchbook.

“Thanks...I’m relieved that you like it.” Adrian tucked her book away as they pulled up to the city. Adrian looked up and smiled. “Whoa! This city looks awesome!” Adrian sat up and looked around. They pulled into a parking spot and got out of the car. Adrian looked around with a bright smile. She spun around with a goofy smile. “I love it!” 

Noctis sighed as he slipped out of his jacket. “It’s hot.”

“Then take your shirt off.” Gladio teased. 

Noctis rolled his eyes. “Like you, no way.” Gladio rested his arm on Noctis’ shoulders and laughed.

“What wrong? Are you too ashamed to show your scrawny body?”

“Hey I have muscles...you just can’t see it.” Noctis retorted. Adrian giggled at the two. They reminded her of home. Meanwhile, Prompto was taking a few pictures of the two while they were goofing off. 

“Hey where did Iris say she was staying at?” Prompto asked Gladio. 

“She said she was at The Leville. We should head that way.” Gladio stated. Adrian grabbed her bag out of the car and tagged along. 

“Okay let’s head out.” They walked towards the city square. Adrian smiled as she looked around her scenery. The local’s waved with smiles on their faces and Adrian waved back. “The locals are really friendly here.” Adrian mused out loud. 

“Yea this is really refreshing.” Prompto commented. They reached the town square and the hotel was insight when the earth started to shake. “SHIT EARTHQUAKE!!!” Prompto yelped. 

Adrian fell backwards into Gladio, who caught her.“You’re a graceful one aren't ya?” Gladio sarcastically comment. Adrian shot a glare at Gladio. 

He help her up and Adrian noticed that Noctis looked pale. “Ahk.” Noctis groaned and pressed the palm of his hand against his temple. 

“Noct what wrong?” Ignis asked. Adrian noticed that the tone in Ignis’ voice was different. It was filled with concern. 

Noctis shook his head and took a few shaky breaths. “My head’s throbbing. Its...it's okay now.” he reassured. Adrian got up on her toes. She reached up and placed the back of her hand against his forehead. Noctis furrowed his brows. “What are you doing?” 

“Checking your temperature you dweeb.” Adrian bluntly stated. She then smirked mischievously as Noctis gave an unamused look. “What is that look for?”

“You are really weird Adrian, just really weird.” Noctis sighed. 

Adrian stuck her tongue out at Noctis. “Says the walking armory.” Adrian teased as she poked Noctis’ chest. She then turned bright red. What Noctis said earlier was right. He did have muscles. She poked him a couple more times to confirm this truth. 

“Adrian stop poking me.” Noctis asked awkwardly.

“You weren’t lying. You’re muscles are hidden.” Adrian muses out loud. This made Noctis ears turn red. 

“I...uh...well.”Prompto smiled and took a picture of the stuttering prince. “Hey!” 

“Sorry Noct but I couldn’t help myself and it's rare to see you stutter that much so I have to capture the moment.” Prompto happily explained. With that, the group walked into the hotel.


	13. Dreams of the ruined kingdom

Iris was reading in her room when Jared, an elderly gentleman who worked at the Citadel, knocked on the door. “Lady Iris, Your brother and his friends are here.” Iris looked up and smiled. 

“I’ll be right down.” She hurried downstairs and smiled as she spotted her brother and his friends. “Gladdy!” Iris cheerfully called out. Gladio looked over towards Iris and smiled. 

“Iris” Iris hurried over to Gladio. 

“How was your trip?” 

“It was interesting. We picked up a little stray on the way here.” Adrian punched Gladio in the arm with a sour look on her face. 

“Hey! Four foot eleven is not that short!.” Adrian retorted. 

“Was that supposed to be a punch?” Gladio teased and Adrian just pouted. She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. 

Iris smiled and held her hand out towards Adrian.“Hi, I’m Gladdy’s little sister Iris.” Adrian took Iris’ hand and gave it a firm shake. 

“Adrian Valdeze. I hope you don’t mind my traveling with the guys. It was not something I had planned.” Iris giggled as Adrian turned red. 

“It’s no problem.” She then glanced over at Noctis. “Hey Noct, Prompto, Ignis. My brother hasn’t been giving you too much trouble has he?” Gladio rolled his eyes after hearing his sister’s accusations. 

Noctis just smirked. “Just the normal amount of trouble.” Iris covered her mouth to stifle a giggle.

“That’s good. Hey we have a room set up for you guys and Adrian could share a room with me.” with that the group headed upstairs and discussed over what has happened.

Iris explained how devastating the attack on Insomnia was and how there was a lot of citizens that didn’t make it. She also talked about a rumor that Luna was in Lestallum for a short while but had headed out before they gotten there. Noctis gave a relieved look. Adrian couldn’t help but feel relieved for him as well. Luna is his Fiancee after all, so just hearing that she was recently in Lestallum must have taken some worry off his shoulders. Adrian stretched and stifled a yawn. 

“Well...I’m turning in for the night. See ya’ll in the morning.” Adrian hurried out and headed to bed. 

 

“Adrian... Adrian are you okay?” the woman in white asked in concerned as Adrian sat up rubbing her head. 

“Hu...where am I?” 

“You're in the ruins of Solheim, You fell the last time we met.” Adrian sat up and looked around the forested area. She noticed the crumbling buildings and the odd glyphs that decorated them. She then looked back up at the woman in white. 

“Solheim? But this city was engulfed in flames the last time. People were screaming and…”

“And dying...Adrian I believe that you have Retrocognition.” 

Adrian shook her head and got up. “Retro what?”

“The ability to see past events, I can help you with understanding how it works.”

“No I don’t want to understand it.” she paced around, her baby blue dress billowed behind her. 

The woman in white placed a hand on Adrian’s shoulder. “Adrian...I understand how difficult it is to have your life uprooted in the blink of an eye. That is why I am here with you Adrian. I want to guide you.” 

Adrian looked back at the woman and sighed.“You’re not going to let me say no are you?” the lady in white smiled gently. Adrian blushed and glanced away. “Okay Okay. I can’t say no to those baby blue eyes.” 

“Then walk with me. We have a lot to discuss.” Adrian followed the woman in white through the ruins. Golden rays of sunlight made the ruins look mystical and warm. “Adrian tell me what do you know of your family?” The woman in white asked. Adrian sighed as she looked up at a pillar. 

“Well what can I say. My dad is an accountant, My stepmom is a stay at home mom, and I have a baby brother. Nothing special.” Adrian bluntly explained. “At least that’s what I can remember right now.” 

The woman in white furrowed her brows. “What about your birthmother? Do you remember anything about her?” 

Adrian stopped and looked down. She crossed her arms and sighed. “I don’t remember much about her, but I do remember what she looked liked from photos. My grandfather didn’t say much about her.” Adrian said. Her eyes wandered over to the skies. Her voice wavered in hesitation. “All he said was that she was a free spirit. Nothing would get her down.” 

“A natural warrior?” the woman in white inquired. 

“You could say that, although I don’t know of any warrior that has pastel pink hair and face tattoos.” Adrian teased. She leaned up against a pillar and smiled. “Gramps said that Mom left because she needed to finish an important job. It wasn’t until I was twelve when I started to really get interested in finding out who my mom was. I started to dig through my Grandfather's office. I was about to look through one of his journals when he walked in and I got in trouble. ‘Your mother is dead! You can’t bring back the dead!’ was what he shouted at me.” Adrian subconsciously touched her pendent. “You can say I didn’t dare try to learn more about my mother after that. The only thing I have that was her was this pendent.” 

The woman in white furrowed her brows. “A woman with pink hair?” She then mused to herself. Adrian gave a confused look. 

“Is that an odd thing?” the woman in white shook her head. 

“No it isn’t. I suggest talking to someone who worked at the Citadel. There are some things you must learn about, especially about who you are and the truth about your home. That is the only way you will begin to understand your abilities and you’re purpose for being here.” with that the woman in white faded away. Adrian gasped as she tried to stop her from leaving. 

“WAI!!!” Adrian fell and looked up. The ruins were in a blaze and people were running and screaming. Adrian looked up in fear as she saw someone who she could say was a giant. He had horns from his dark curls and eyes like an inferno. He glared down at Adrian with a look of disgust. 

“All of this is your fault.” Adrian shook her head as she backed up from the godlike devil. 

“I...forgive me...I accept blame...let me take on the punishment.” Adrian whispered. She didn’t understand why she felt guilty or why she was begging to take punishment. The hellion growled. 

“One death will not satisfy my thirst for vengeance. Now die Queen Terra!” He lifted his sword up in the air. “So suffer just like how you made Eos suffer!” he swung down at Adrian. 

“AHHK!!!” Adrian bolted up from her slumber. She panted and wiped the cold sweat of her forehead. “Jeez, who was that? And the city, the city was destroyed by him, but why did he do that?” then her mind traveled to the names the godlike man mentioned. “Who was Eos...and who was Terra?” Adrian thought out loud. She looked outside and smiled. It was early morning. “I should get changed and head out.” Adrian fished through her bag and pulled out a floral print summer dress that Cindy let her borrow. She then pulled her black curls up in a loose messy bun when she noticed that the black dye in her hair was starting to flake off. “Shit I’ll need dye soon too.” she slipped her feet into her black converses. 

Ignis, Gladio, and Promto were talking to Jared when Adrian skipped down the stairs. “Morning everyone.” she cheerfully called from the staircase. Gladio chuckled upon seeing Adrian’s attire. 

“You look like you're ready to go to the beach.” Adrian placed her hands on her hips and stuck her tongue out. 

“I can still kick ass in a dress.” 

Gladio rolled his eyes. “Right.”

Ignis took a sip of Ebony coffee and smiled. “Adrian, Jared and Talcott wanted to take us on a quick tour around Lestallum. Do you wish to join us?” Adrian smiled brightly. 

“Better than sitting around the hotel all day. Let's go.”


	14. Family bonds

Lestallum was a sleepy city in the early morning. The air was humid and Adrian’s hair was starting to frizz up. That didn’t bug Adrian though. She enjoyed the walk around the market. There was a huge variety of wares at each stall. Ignis was looking over some of the spices and Prompto was taking some snapshots. Adrian looked around, she found herself looking at the art supplies they had. Inks and pens caught Adrian’s attention. “Whoa, the colors are amazing.” 

“I see you’re enjoying yourself.” Gladio walked up behind Adrian. 

“Yea, You can’t find handmade inks like this back home.” Adrian mused. “Oh sorry I’m nerding out over here.” 

“Don’t worry about it.” Gladio let out a small chuckle. “You know, it’s cool seeing how you get worked up over something like art supplies.” 

“What my geeking out over ink is cool to you? And you guys call me weird?” Adrian exclaimed. 

“Oh yea you’re still weird, but you’re starting to fit in with our weird.” Gladio teased Adrian and gave her a playful pat on her back.

“I see.” Adrian smiled. She then looked over to where Jared and Talcott were looking around. “Hey I’ll be right back.” Adrian hurried over to Jared. “Excuse me...Mr. Jared sir.” Adrian asked the older gentleman. 

Jared smiled at Adrian. “Yes Ms. Adrian?”

“Uh this is going to be an odd question but did you know anyone who…Hold on one moment.” Adrian fished through her bag and took out her wallet. She pulled out a photo and showed it to Jared. “Did you know anyone who looked like the woman in this photo?” Jared took a close look at the photo, glanced back at Adrian, then back at the photo. 

“Well I’ll be damned, you’re Althia and Cor’s little girl.” Adrian furrowed her brows. 

“Wait...what do you mean Althia and Cor’s little girl? I’m not related to Cor.” Adrian asked. Jared smiled at Adrian. 

“I wasn’t sure at first when I saw you Adrian but I am positive now. You have a look that is very similar to Cor’s though you have your mother’s face.” Adrian couldn’t believe what Jared was saying. It just wasn’t possible. If Cor was her father then why didn’t he say anything? This made Adrian frustrated. 

“Mr. Jared. How can I contact Cor? I think I need to hear him verify this.” 

“I’m not too sure. It’s rather difficult to contact him.” Adrian sighed, she was going to have to wait with this knowledge weighing heavily on her shoulders. 

“Okay. Thanks Mr. Jared.” Adrian said. Prompto then hurried over. 

“Hey Adrian gues...wait why do you look so down?” 

“Uh...I uh...I need to think over some new information.” Adrian muttered. Prompto tilted his head. 

“What new info?” 

“Uh...Cor...Don’t take this in a bad way but...Cor is apparently….my...biological dad.” Adrian forced the strange words out of her mouth. Prompto expression changed from being cheerful to shocked.

“Whoa...wait you're...HOLY SHIT COR HAS A DAUGHTER...YOU’RE COR THE IMMORTALS DAUGHTER!?” Adrian lightly punched Prompto’s shoulder. 

“Hey don’t shout that out loud! I don’t know for certain if Cor is really my dad.” Adrian fussed. However Ignis and Gladio overheard them.

“Damn I didn’t know Cor even had a daughter.” Gladio bluntly stated. Ignis hummed but didn’t say anything. 

Adrian turned red. “Damn it guys...I just need to figure things out. I don’t know…” Ignis mused over this. 

“Actually that would explain why Cor had an odd look when he saw Adrian.” Adrian glanced over at Ignis. She remembered about that look Cor had, it was faint but there was a reaction.

“Then you think that it’s true?” Adrian asked. 

Ignis nodded. “It would make sense that you have a tie to Eos. Especially since you’ve mentioned that magic doesn’t exist where you come from. However, that doesn’t explain your abilities.” 

“You mean the atlatl light beams right?” Adrian asked. She figured that it was odd even in Lucis that she had magic because she wasn’t related to Noctis or was even using magic from the crystal. This itself was enough for Niflheim to be interested in Adrian for her abilities. 

“Yes, It would be in your best interest to find out more about how your powers work. That way you can safeguard yourself from Niflheim and make sure that they can’t use your powers against you.” 

“I see where you’re going with that Ignis. But where would I start? The only people who would know anything about my abilities would be my mom and my grandpa, one of them is dead and the other refused to tell me anything when I was younger.” Ignis thought about this dilemma. 

“Hmm…”

Gladio then sighed. “We should head back. Don’t want Noct to think that we left him.” this pulled Adrian back from her dilemma. 

“Right.” 

The Hotel lobby was quiet. The hotel clerk spotted Adrian and called out to her. “Ma’am…” Adrian didn’t listen. She was still mulling over what Jared said about Cor being her father. It was surreal to her. The idea that she was the daughter of someone as respected as Cor was baffling. This also forced Adrian to face the idea that her original life was a lie, that the man that raised her was not her real father. Which life was really reality? “Excuse me ma’am there’s a package addressed to a Ms. Adrian P. Valdeze.” 

“Hu? Oh sorry.” Adrian stood up and picked up the package. She furrowed her brows as she looked it over. “Where did this come from?” just then Noctis and Iris walked into the Lobby from outside. “Ha...they must have went out for a little tour too. How cute.” Adrian gushed and tucked the package into her bag. Noctis glanced over at Adrian and blushed. 

“Morning Adrian. You...uh…” Noctis started to talk but stuttered over his words.

Iris smiled. “You look nice Adrian, I love the floral print.” Noctis glanced away, he was blushing madly. 

“Yea it looks nice.” Adrian smirked, 

“Thanks but I have to get ready to head out with you guys. So back in battle gear for me.” Adrian teased and she hurried up to her room while Noctis was getting briefed about rumors of a royal tomb nearby. She quickly changed out of her dress and into her dark blue jeans, brown boots and forest green top. She then strapped her atlatl to her belt and re tied her hair into a bun. “There no more enemies yanking my hair.” she then hurried back downstairs. “Okay lets go.” Adrian smiled as she stepped outside. 

“Adrian slow down. You might want to know where we are headed first.” Noctis called out. 

Adrian turned around and smirked. “Oh no I don’t, if I know where we are headed now, I’ll start second guessing myself so I don’t want to know.” 

Noctis shook his head at Adrian’s ridiculous thought process. “Fine. but you’re not going to like it.” Adrian turned pale at those words. 

“Wait...uh...maybe I could…” Adrian tried to take back what she just said. Noctis reached his hand out and smirked. 

“You know you don’t have to carry around your weapon all the time?” Adrian looked down at her atlatl. 

“I don’t know Noctis...I feel a little better having this on me. But…” then she took the weapon out of it’s straps and handed it to Noctis. “Just this one time I’ll let you show off.” Noctis raised a brow after hearing Adrian’s response. 

“I don’t show off.” Noctis replied as a light blue light consumed Adrian’s weapon. However, the light faded out and the weapon was still in Adrian’s hands. “What?” Noctis gave a confused expression. 

Adrian furrowed her brows as well. “Having performance issues?”

Noctis turned bright red. “Hey!” Adrian giggled and strapped her atlatl back into her belt. 

“I’m teasing Noctis. Though I think I know why that didn’t work. The magic in my atlatl is different from your magic. They probably work on a different frequency or something like that.” Adrian suggested. Noctis sighed and rested his arm on her shoulders. Adrian turned bright red. “Hey why are…” 

“You looked a little worried.” Noctis blushed and looked away. Adrian hid a small smile. 

“Uh...thanks Noctis…” 

“Just Noct.” Noctis corrected Adrian. She glanced back at Noctis. 

“Okay...Noct.” Adrian sighed. She then quickly got out from under Noctis’ arm. “Hey wait a second! I’m not your personal armrest...ahk you know what let's go.” she suddenly snapped and hurried ahead of Noctis. 

“Uh...Ha she is definitely weird.” Noctis mused to himself. Prompto came up behind Noctis and tapped his shoulder playfully. 

“What was that all about?” there was a sly smirk plastered on his face. Noctis narrowed his eyes. 

“It wasn’t anything important.” 

The trip was quiet and when they pulled into a parking spot, Adrian beamed at the scenery. “Wow...it’s really pretty here.” Adrian looked around and smiled. She took a deep breath in and sighed. Prompto poked Adrian in the side and smiled. “Hey!” Adrian fussed. 

“So taking in the scenery?” Prompto smiled. 

Adrian frowned. “Yea I was until you poked my side.” 

Prompto smirked. “Why do you look so embarrassed all of a sudden? You gave the same look when Noct was talking to you earlier.” Prompto teased. 

“What no I didn’t! I was just surprised that’s all. Besides he’s lucky I didn’t smack that smirk off his face for using me as an armrest. The only reason why I didn’t was because...well because...I’m not that mean.” 

Prompto rolled his eyes and smirked. “Sure thats what it was,”

Adrian turned bright red. “You don’t believe me.” 

“Not at all.” Adrian just sighed as they headed down the stairs and followed the path. 

They reached the base of a waterfall and Adrian shivered. “Let me guess, we’re going in another cave filled with Daemons or monsters in the dark. The lifeless, soul sucking darkness that is devoid of light and all that is good.” 

Gladio chuckled. “You could always stay out here by yourself. Alone at night with daemons.” the guys started to head into the cave while Adrian pondered over what Gladio said. She then looked up and noticed that the guys had walked away and panicked. 

“Uh...guys? Wait you were joking right? HEY WAIT UP!!! DON’T LEAVE ME OUT HERE BY MYSELF!!! PSYCHO ROBOTS COULD POP UP!!!” Adrian cried out as she ran in to catch up with the rest of the party.


	15. A Frigged Experience

Cold and dark, those were the first things that Adrian noted while going through the cave. They walked deeper into the icy cave and Adrian started to noticed the frost that clung onto the stone walls. “How could a cave get this cold? Uhg just another reason to hate caves” Adrian thought about the caves and shivered. She definitely hated the fact that she was in a cave again. “Your ancestors had an interesting habit of building tombs in some odd places. Why is that?” Adrian asked. 

Noctis just shrugged. “How should I know? I wasn’t there when they built them.” Noctis stated bluntly. 

“Ice and rocks. This cave really likes to chill it’s visitors doesn’t it.” Adrian sighed.

Gladio chuckled. “What’s wrong princess? Can’t handle the cold?” 

“No I’m from the desert. I hate the cold.” 

Noctis glanced back and sighed. “Do you have a jacket?” 

Adrian nodded. “Yea...back in my truck...I didn’t think about grabbing it at the time.” Adrian retorted as she pouted childishly.

Noctis sighed. “Right.” that was when they came to a fork in the path. “Let's go right.” Adrian sighed as she looked down the path Noctis decided on. It was really dark and her heart pounded as it jumped up to her throat. 

“Maybe we could find another path. One that isn’t as dark.” Adrian backed up slowly from the menacing path. 

Ignis noticed how pale Adrian had gotten. “What’s wrong? You don’t look well.” Adrian took a deep breath and shook her head. She made it this far into the cave, might as well push on. 

“Nono I’m fine, nothing’s wrong. Nothing at all.” Adrian took a step back, not realizing the icy ledge. Her feet shot out from under her and Adrian slid down the steep ledge. “AHHHK!!!” Adrian let out a scream as she hit the bottom. She glanced down at her shaky hand and saw that the ice had cut her hand open. Crimson blood oozed out and dripped to the floor. “Shit...oh shit shit shit.” Adrian repeatedly hissed. 

“Adrian! We’re coming down there, just stay put.” Prompto called out. Adrian looked up and shook her head. 

“No don’t this is a dead end! I’ll climb back up.” Adrian called back up. 

“What? That’s crazy, I’m coming down there now!” this time Noctis called down. Adrian looked around quickly. There was a small path next to the ledge that wasn’t iced over.

“That’ll have to work for now.” Adrian thought to herself she then called back up to the group.“No no keep your ass up there, I think I can climb up.” 

“No don’t do that you’ll….ahk just sit tight Adrian I’ll.” 

“DON’T FUCKING SLIDE DOWN NOCT!!!” Adrian angrily snapped. She started to climb up the sketchy sliver of rock. Slowly she climbed up the ledge. “Okay this isn’t too bad. As long as monsters don’t attack me here I’ll be good.” Adrian thought to herself as she reached the top. Noctis reached out and took Adrian’s wounded hand. “Ouch!” Adrian cringed as Noctis pulled her up. 

“That was graceful.” Noctis teased, however he noticed how sticky Adrian’s hand was. He glanced down and noticed the blood on her hand. “You’re hand…” 

“It’s fine…” Adrian tried to reassure Noctis. However, Ignis took Adrian’s hand. 

“Hmm. you might need some stitches when we get back in the meantime press your hand against the ice. That will freeze the wound and stop the bleeding.” 

“Kay” Adrian pressed her hand against the ice. “Ow ow ow ow.” She winced and pulled her hand up to see that the blood had slowed. 

Prompto looked over her shoulder and winced. “Ouch that looks really bad.” 

“Well the sooner we get the weapon from the tomb here the sooner we can leave this death trap.” Adrian huffed as she unstrapped her Atlatl from the her side and armed herself. Noctis furrowed his brows. 

“You are going to be okay right?” 

Adrian nodded as she flashed a smirk. “I’ll be fine.” she reassured Noctis as she got up and tucked the stray strand of hair behind her ear. Noctis smirked and got up as well. 

“Okay lets keep going.” 

They traveled from chamber to chamber fighting off daemons as they made their way to the royal tomb. Adrian let out an exhausted sigh. “Are we near the tomb yet?” 

“Ah…I’m fifty percent certain that we are close.” Noctis replied sarcastically. Unamused by his remark, Adrian tugged at her hair. She noticed the that the tips of her hair were really faded out. 

“Damn it.” Adrian muttered under her breath. Prompto noticed and smirked. 

“Hey Adrian you and Noct match.” Adrian and Noctis both looked back with an odd look. 

“What are you getting at Prompto?” Noctis asked, Prompto smiled as he pointed to Noctis’ hair. 

“Dude your hair is frosted, same with Adrian’s.” Noctis smiled. 

“Really , does it look good?” Noctis asked. Prompto nodded. Noctis then glanced at Adrian, “Hey we are matching then.” 

Adrian however didn’t look amused. She looked away from Noctis. “Uhg so immature.” Noctis raised a brow. 

“Immature? That's ironic coming from Ms. Graceful.” Noctis retorted. Adrian glared angrily at Noctis. 

“Graceful! Look that ledge snuck up on me! And with the hair frosted joke, I don’t like being teased for having frosted tips. So just stop okay!” Adrian’s tone was tense. Noctis narrowed his eyes. 

“It was just a harmless joke, why are you getting so wrapped up about it?” Noctis snapped at Adrian. He didn’t understand Adrian’s sudden hostile attitude. 

Adrian furrowed her brows and scold. “Hmph! Why should I even try to explain to you? You’re just a pampered Prince! I doubt you would understand!” Adrian angrily snapped at Noctis. This angered Noctis and the glare he gave sent shivers down Adrian’s back. 

“You think I’m pampered!? You at least have a home that is still standing!!! I HAVE TO LIVE WITH THE FACT THAT MANY CROWN CITY CITIZENS DIED BECAUSE OUR HOME WAS DESTROYED AND NEITHER MY FATHER NOR I COULD DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT EXCEPT WATCH IT BURN DOWN!!! SO YOU TELL ME WHO’S THE PAMPERED ONE HERE!!!” Gladio then stepped in and pushed both Adrian and Noctis away from each other. 

“That’s enough! You’re both being stupid right now.” Gladio gave a glare to both Adrian and Noctis. Noctis took a deep breath. 

 

“Fine.” He forced out an answer. Adrian frowned and looked away. 

“Fine.” She mumbled under her breath. Adrian then backed up and stayed next to Ignis while Noctis stayed up front. 

Ignis glanced down at Adrian and sighed. He could sense that there was more to that argument than just a joke. However, Ignis didn’t want to bring anything up while in the cave. He decided that he’ll talk to Adrian privately once they leave the cave. This will prevent any more confrontations. Until then, Ignis believed it would be wise to let Adrian and Noctis both cool down. 

However, Noctis stopped and armed himself. “Daemon...I haven’t seen this one before.” the daemon had tentacles and fins. Yet the disgusting creature had some human features like arms and a head. Prompto cringed at the sight. 

“Ugh that thing smells like rotten fish.” Prompto pinched his nose. Noctis gave a smirk. 

“I say that gives us a reason to get rid of it.” everyone armed themselves and charged in. Noctis warped behind the creature and with Ignis’ help attacked the creature, weakening it. Then Gladio charged in and slammed his greatsword down on it, this was followed up by a few shots from Prompto and Adrian. 

“Alright! One Davy Jones monster down two more to go!” Adrian called out. She then whipped around and shot a beam at the Damon that was charging behind her. The shot hit the creature's shoulder but this didn’t stop it from grabbing Adrian with its tentacle. She started to feel dizzy as it lifted up and began to constrict her. “AHK!!!” she heard shots ring out and the tentacles dropped Adrian. She got up onto her shaky legs and looked around. Adrian was seeing double. She forced herself against the wall and tried to aim. “Crap...I can’t aim...I’m seeing double.” She then felt a hand against her back. It was Prompto 

“Adrian how many fingers am I holding up?” he held up his hand.

Adrian pressed her hand against her head. “Prompto I can’t... Your hand is going in circles. I can’t aim like this, I’ll hurt someone.” 

Prompto nodded and looked over in Noctis’ direction. “Noct! Adrian need smelling salts!” called out Prompto. Noctis nodded and tossed a vile to Prompto. He opened it up and held it close to Adrian’s nose. 

“Yak!” Adrian shook her head and watched as her vision went back to normal. She noticed a Daemon getting ready to attack Prompto from behind. “PROMPTO MOVE!!!” Adrian quickly yanked Prompto back behind her as she raised her arm up. Warm Amber light engulfed both her and Prompto while it pushed back the daemon. The daemon’s movements slowed down to a halt and Gladio took the opportunity to slay the frozen creature. 

“HOLY SHIT ADRIAN HOW DID YOU DO THAT!? THAT WAS AWESOME!!!” Prompto exclaimed. Adrian shook her head and collapsed to her knees. 

“Uhg shit that took a lot...I...I feel very...very drained all of a sudden.” Ignis quickly got to Adrian and handed her another vial. 

“Here this will help you gain your energy back.” Adrian took the vial and drank every last drop. She slowly felt her energy returned. She looked up at Ignis and sighed. 

“Thanks…” then Gladio came over and helped Adrian up on her feet.

Noctis then walked over. “Adrian do you know what kind of magic you just used?” there was bewilderment in his voice. Adrian looked at the boy’s faces. They had the same look of shock. 

Adrian slowly shook her head. “No...I don’t know what I did.” She tugged on a strand of hair and shook her head. She was shaken by the magic and turned pale from shock. Noctis placed a hand on Adrian’s shoulders. 

“Breath, just breath. The tomb is right there we’ll go in, get the royal arm, and head out okay. Just breath.” Adrian shook her head and looked away from Noctis. 

“No I don’t know what happened. That energy! What did I do to that daemon? It’s like it just froze.” Adrian spoke out. Her voice shook.

Noctis gave a worried look. He wasn’t sure how to explain to Adrian what magic she just conjured. So he look up to Ignis for a little help. Ignis noticed and nodded. Noctis backed up and let Ignis talk. “Adrian what you conjured was an ancient magic called time magic. It’s a type of magic that we haven’t seen for thousands of years.” Adrian furrowed her brows. 

“...Time magic…” she shook her head and forced her way past the boys. Adrian made a beeline to the tomb’s entrance then faced the boys wearing a serious look on her face. “Damn it I can’t let this bother me right now. We have a royal arm to get and the door is right here so let's get the job done and get the hell out of this hell hole.” Noctis tilted his head for a moment then smirked. 

“Okay okay...just don’t collapse on us.” Noctis made his way towards the door and unlocked the tomb.

Once inside, Noctis walked up to the elaborate sarcophagus. He raised his hand above the weapon and just like last time. The weapon gave off a cool light blue glow, it lifted into the air and the plunged into Noctis’ chest. Bits of crystal like shards circled Noctis before completely fading away. Adrian couldn’t help but be mesmerized with Noctis’ magic. There was a surreal beauty to his magic, one that Adrian hoped to capture in a drawing one of these days. 

Noctis suddenly hunched over in pain. “Mmk...Ahk...gahhh...ngg…” He pressed his hand against his head. Ignis was the first one at Noctis’ side, followed by Prompto, Gladio, and Adrian. 

“Hey Noct are you okay?” Prompto asked with a concerned filled tone. Noctis shook his head as he calmed his pained breathing. 

“Wha… what did I…where….?” Noctis spoke between painful pants. 

Gladio furrowed his brows out of concern. “What is it?” 

Noctis took a few breaths before answering. “A hole in the ground...something burning...the meteor?” 

“You saw the disk of Cauthess?” Ignis asked. Adrian looked over at Ignis with a confused expression. 

“What’s The Disk of Cauthess and is it the reason why Noct’s been getting headaches?” Adrian asked. Her voice was laced with concern. Ignis shook his head. “In our Mythology, the Disk of Cauthess was where the Archaean caught a meteor thousand of years ago. Though it doesn’t explain Noctis’ condition.” 

Gladio sighed. “We’ll have to figure it out back in Lestallum. Right now let's get out of this cave.” 

Noctis stood back up and looked around at the group. “Right.”


	16. A runin with a Devil

Adrian was the first one out of the cave and she twirled in a circle out of relief. “Ah yes warm fresh air, morning sunlight, and…” Adrian realized that they had been out all night. “Oh god...we spent the whole night in a cave.” She sighed as the boys came out of the cave. Everyone was tired. 

“I just want to flop onto a bed.” Noctis groaned.

Prompto then let out a yawn. “Cannon ball for me.” Adrian nodded quietly in agreement. 

That was when Ignis walked up to her. “You three go on ahead Adrian and I will catch up.” Adrian suddenly felt like she was going to get scolded. 

“Uh...Ignis.” 

Ignis looked over at Adrian. “You're not in trouble, I just wanted to confirm something.” 

Adrian looked down at the ground, a bit disappointed with herself now.“Is this about that argument I got in with Noctis?”

Ignis nodded. “Yes, I couldn’t help but notice your tone. There was another reason for your anger, wasn’t there?” Adrian sighed. Ignis had read her like a book. She tugged on a loose strand of hair. 

“Yea there was.” Ignis maintained a stern look. 

“Would you mind elaborating?” He simply asked.

Adrian gave a worried look.“Okay...just don’t laugh, the hair color you see...it’s not my real hair color…My real hair color is...well it’s white. I don’t mean like platinum blond white I mean pure white. I was teased about it when I was a kid so when I was older I started to dye my hair black to blend in. However, the dye fades off really quickly. Right now just the tips are frosted looking but it’ll get worse.” Adrian shook her head after her explanation. “God damn it...I shouldn’t have snapped at Noctis like that. That wasn’t fair to him. Especially since it was over something so stupid as a joke.” 

“I see, Adrian, you don’t have to hide that from us. I would suggest talking to Noctis about it. He might surprise you.” Ignis suggested to Adrian. 

“What? I would think he would hate me for what I said. Ahk I was being a spoiled brat.”

“He’s stubborn, but Noctis has never held much of a grudge against anyone.” Ignis informed. 

Adrian took a deep breath and smiled. “Thanks Ignis, I’ll talk to Noctis...and apologize to him for being an ass to him.” with that Adrian ran ahead of Ignis and then pass the rest of the group. “Noct! Noct wait up!” Adrian ran past Noctis turned around and put both hands up to stop him. 

“Uh what are you…” Noctis didn’t get the chance to finish when Adrian took a deep breath and put on a stern face. 

“I’m sorry for what I said in the cave! That was out of line and I had no right to be rude to you.” 

Noctis turned red and rubbed the back of his neck. “Adrian this isn’t necessar….” 

“I’m not done yet! I have to tell you why I acted out of line. It’s because...because…” Adrian took another deep breath. “BECAUSE MY HAIR IS NATURALLY WHITE!!!” Adrian’s face was bright red. 

“Ah...what?” Noctis asked. He was a bit shocked over how sudden Adrian statement was. “Adrian I think that daemon scrambled your mind. Your hair isn’t wh…” Adrian unpinned her hair and let it fall down her back. She grabbed a handful of her hair and brushed off the dye that was already flaking off. She then showed her dye covered hand to Noctis. 

“My hair is dyed black but dyes never stayed more than two weeks.” Noctis tilted his head and took a closer look at Adrian's hair. He could see that the tips were really shedding black dye. “I usually tie it back when it needs to be redyed, but I hadn’t gotten the chance to get any dye and I didn’t want to say anything because...well I...back home I wasn’t really well liked for having white hair so I had no clue how you guys would react.” Adrian tugged on her hair and looked away from Noctis. She was bracing herself for the worse.

Noctis however just sighed. “Okay so your hair is white. Why would I judge you for that?” Adrian looked up with wide eyes. She didn’t expect such a chilled response. 

“W...wait that’s it? No yelling, no teasing, or nasty names? Nothing?” 

Noctis shrugged and shook his head. “I don’t really care whether your dye or hair or not. That doesn’t define your personality.” Noctis took a strand of Adrian’s hair and tucked it behind her ear. “So don’t let it define you.” Adrian face turned bright red as she took a step back from Noctis, hiding her face. Noctis blushed, worried that he had said something wrong. “I uh...I didn’t…” Adrian smiled and wrapped her arms around Noctis in a hug and buried her face against his chest. 

“Thank you, thank you thank you thank you.” Noctis turned beet red as he looked around over at Prompto and Gladio, who were giggling at Noctis’ predicament. Noctis shook his head and awkwardly patted Adrian’s head. 

“Hey uh no problem?” Adrian looked up and smiled a bright smile. 

“Noctis I have one promise to make to you.” Noctis gave a confused look. 

“And what is that?” Adrian let Noctis go from her hug and placed her hand over her heart. 

“I will make sure you get the royal arms and beat back the Nifs.” Noctis couldn’t help but give a worried look. 

“But what about getting home?” Adrian shook her head. 

“Lets be honest Noct, I’ve been trying to contact my family for a little more than two weeks with no luck at all. I don’t think there is any way for me to get back. So I am accepting that fact and I want to help out. I know I’ve been a bit of a pain in the ass and I showed that really badly in the cave. But that isn’t how I normally am. So please, I will do whatever it takes to reunite you with Lady Lunafreya and reclaim your kingdom.” Noctis was shocked with Adrian’s proclamation. He really didn’t expect all of this from Adrian. 

“I...I don’t know what to say.” Noctis just said. Gladio patted Noctis’ shoulder. 

“A thank you would be a good start Noct.” Gladio gruffly said. 

Prompto stretched his arms up and yawn. “Yea I’m all down with kicking Niflheim ass but there is a bed back in Lestallum with my name on it.” Noctis agreed with Prompto on that aspect. So the group headed up to the car and then back to Lestallum. 

Once in Lestallum, they made their way back to the Leville hotel. Adrian looked over at the market and sighed. “Hey Noct, I’m going to get some supplies. We’re low on potions.” 

“Oh okay, just be careful.” Adrian smiled. 

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll be fine.” Noctis then took out his phone. “Adrian hold up. Give me your number.” 

Adrian tilted her head. “Uh, sure.” she gave Noctis her cell phone number; Then gave it a try. Adrian received the call and she saved his number.

“This is so when we’re separated we can keep in contact.” Adrian nodded. 

“Okay, I’ll be right back.” Adrian smiled and hurried off to the market. She looked around and found potions and a box of hair dye. “Awesome this will help replenish the stock.” Adrian backed up and accidently bumped into someone. “Oh sorry I didn’t mean to bump into you.” She looked up at the man she bumped into, his hair was wavy, a burgundy color, and his eyes were a hazel color. Adrian couldn’t help but feel off put by this man. 

“Oh it is alright Kitten...My that’s an interesting pendant you have.” he pointed towards the amber pendant Adrian wore on a light blue ribbon. Adrian backed up, narrowing her eyes, and tightening her grip on her bag. 

“Uh thanks.” the burgundy haired man flashed a smile. Adrian felt a chill run down her back.

“If you don’t mind my asking…” Adrian furrowed her brows and interrupted the man.

“Yes I do mind. I don’t know you and I don’t wish to talk to someone who gives off the same vibes as a used car salesman.” She bluntly stated. The man sighed and started to walk away. But then he stopped and looked back. 

“You know it’s pointless to cover up you’re white hair with hair dye. Especially since Solheim Time mages were said to have contained an intense amount of light within their souls.” This comment made Adrian’s heart jump to her throat. She look back at the man with wide eyes. Her mind was screaming at her to just go, that this man was too dangerous. But his eyes, Adrian felt like she couldn’t move because of those amber eyes. “Hmm. That seemed to have caught your attention.” the man walked back and circled Adrian, almost teasing her. “This is indeed an interesting meeting. Although wearing a Solheim symbol like that means two things, either you don’t know what you are wearing or you are somehow connected to the Solheim civilization.” Adrian backed up from the man and shook her head. 

“I...I don’t know what you are talking about. Besides the Solheim civilization was destroyed long ago. I doubt I’m connected to them. So I’m just going to just go.” the man smirked and circled Adrian. 

“Now I wonder, there was an old myth about how Solheim citizens figured out how strong a time mage was by just using ash.” The man took out a small bag filled with ash. Adrian backed up quickly. 

“I have to go!” before the man could do anything else Adrian ran out of the market. It was then that her phone rang. She stopped and leaned against a warned out pillar to catch her breath before answering. “He...hello?” 

“Adrian it’s Noctis, can you meet up with us at the fountain in front of the hotel.” Adrian sighed and regained her composer. 

“Okay I’ll be right there.” 

 

Once Adrian left to get potions, Noctis walked into the lobby where Talcott was chilling out. “PRINCE NOCTIS!!!” he cheerfully called out. Noctis knelt down with a smile on his face. 

“Hey Talcott, you know that tip you gave us. Well it was a really big help. Thank you.” Talcott beamed with pride upon hearing Noctis saying that his tip helped out. 

“Really! That’s awesome! I’m glad I could help!” Noctis gave a warm smile and stood back up. Suddenly there was a sharp pain that overtook Noctis’ head. 

“Nggh ...Rhk….AHK!!!” Noctis pressed his hands against his head and hunched over. A constant throbbing pounded in his head as flashes of the Disk of Cauthess ran through his vision. Slowly the ringing in his ears stopped, the throbbing faded away, and Noctis was left feeling drained. 

Iris ,who was talking to Gladio, noticed Noctis hunched over in pain. “Noct are you okay?” 

Gladio placed a hand on Noctis’ shoulder and looked over at Iris. “He’ll be okay.” He then looked back at Noctis. “Noct?” Noctis looked up and nodded. 

“I’m fine.” Noctis looked over at Ignis, who had a concerned look.

“Noct this isn’t normal, If you are having visions of the Disk of Cauthess, then I feel that we should go there.” 

Gladio then interjected. “But according to some of the locals the Disk can’t be reached because of a Nif blockade.”

Ignis ponders this. “That does present an issue.” 

“Why not look at the Disk from the outlook?” Prompto suggested. 

“Hmm...it’s not like going to the Disk itself but it is a good start.” Ignis thought out loud. 

Noctis nodded. “Good, lets call Adrian and let her know to meet us out by the fountain. It shouldn’t take her too long to come back.”

 

After a few minutes, Adrian met up with the boys and they headed towards the lookout. As they walked, Adrian couldn’t help but to think about the odd man she ran into. The aura he gave off felt wrong, twisted. Shivers ran down her back. Prompto looked over and noticed Adrian’s expression. 

“Hey are you okay?” Adrian glanced over and smiled.

“Yea just ran into a creeper while at the market, but I gave him the slip.” 

Prompto had a concerned expression.“Really!? He didn’t touch you did he?” Prompto looked as if he was ready to take on the creeper with everything he’s got. Adrian had to admit, Prompto was very chivalrous at heart. 

Adrian shook her head. “No, he spoke with a polite tone, However his body language seemed off. Anyway who ever he was, I don’t think I’ll be running into him again.” however Adrian glanced up once they got to the outlook and scrunched her nose up at who was at the outlook. “Ah...damn it.”


	17. Solhiem's Fallen palace

Noctis furrowed his brows upon seeing the burgundy haired man. They had met before back in Galdin Quay, right before the fall of Insomnia. The man looked up with a smile. “Oh what a coincidence. I didn’t expect to see you four here.” He politely said. 

Gladio frowned and crossed his arms. “I don’t think it’s a coincidences.” He gruffly stated. 

The man shrugged. “Then a lucky meeting. Ah and I see you picked up an extra member. Hello little kitten, we’ve met earlier.” 

Adrian scrunched up her nose. “Right cause pestering me about my pendant was definitely pleasant.” 

The man maintained his sly smile and looked back out to the Disk of Cauthess. “Aren’t Nursery rhymes such curious things?” 

Adrian narrowed her eyes and put herself between Noctis and the man. “Where are you going with this?” Adrian challenged. Noctis could hear a serious tone in her voice, almost like a threat. 

The man on the other hand, kept his smile and purposely ignored Adrian’s question. “Well like this rhyme. From the deep, the Archaean calls, yet on deaf ears the gods tongue falls. The King made to kneel, in pain, he crawls.” 

Prompto then spoke up from behind Noctis. “Then how do we keep the king on his feet?” Prompto asked. Adrian looked over at Prompto with a concerned look. 

The man circled around the group. “Just heed the Archaean’s call. Luckily for you, I can take you to the Disk.” the group huddled closer together. 

“So what’s the plan, should we follow him?” Gladio asked.

Adrian then spoke up. “I don’t trust him and this just screams stranger danger.”

Prompto nodded in agreement. “She’s right this is a bit fishy.” 

“I know, however what other choice do we have?” Noctis asked. 

Adrian glanced back at the man and cringed. “Noct I would rather be stuck in a cave with squid daemons than to trust a guy who could possibly pass as The Ripper.” 

“Who's The Ripper?” Prompto asked. 

Adrian gave a dark look. She then proceeded to answer Prompto’s question in a nonchalant tone. “Only a killer who brutally murdered and ripped apart seven people and was never caught.” 

Prompto had a look of terror in his eyes. “Now I really don’t trust this guy.” Prompto shivered.

Ignis furrowed his brows. “I don’t like this either, but Noct is right. We don’t have much of a choice. We’ll just have to watch our backs.”

Gladio smirked. “And if he tries anything, it's five on one. We have the advantage if anything goes wrong.” 

“Right.” they looked up at the man who was waiting on an answer. 

“Well? Do you wish to go to the Disk?”he simply asked Noctis. 

“Yea.” was all Noctis said. The man smirked as they started to head towards the parking area. 

“I don’t like formalities, however for this occasion an introduction is in order. You may call me Ardyn.” 

Adrian maintained a serious look as she stayed nearby Noctis. “Even his name seems off. He’s not telling us everything.” Adrian glared at Ardyn venomously, mentally willing her eyes to burn a hole into his damn fedora. 

Gladio noticed Adrian’s oddly intense glare. “You know, You do look like Cor when you make that face.” 

“Good...I hope I burn a hole in his stupid fluffy burgundy head.” Gladio let out a gruff chuckle as they reached the car.

Ardyn looked back and smirked.“You will drive in your car and I will drive mind. It would be like a caravan.” 

Noctis narrowed his eyes. “Fine.” Noctis got into the driver’s seat of the Regalia and they were off. They followed Ardyn down the road. Adrian closed her eyes as they drove, slipping into a deep sleep. 

This time she found herself in a desert landscape with a great palace. “Whoa,” Adrian gasped as she looked up at the architecture. 

“I see you admire the Palace of Solheim.” the woman in white was back. Adrian nodded. 

“Yea...this is neat.” The woman smiled.

“Then let's go inside.” They ventured inside the palace and Adrian looked around in awe of the artwork inside. The walls were lined in strange writing, statues of mighty kings and gods lined the halls. Then they made it to the throne room. Adrian gasped as she saw the symbols. The woman in white noticed Adrian’s shocked expression. “You look a bit surprised.” 

“Surprised is an understatement! How did all of this get here? The symbol on my pendant is shown on the floor, And my lotus tattoo is carved into the walls.” Adrian shook her head as she looked at the woman in white. The woman tilted her head down as if confirming what Adrian was going to say. 

“Long ago The Kingdom of Solheim reigned over Eos, they worked hand in hand with the Astrals.” the woman started to explain. 

“Right, but what happened? How did Solheim influenced so much and what caused its downfall?” Adrian asked. The woman pointed to a golden statue of a one winged angel positioned behind the throne itself. The statue had a warm inviting glow around her. 

“Let her crystal show you the events of the past. Then your questions will be answered.” Adrian nodded and walked up to the statue. 

“Uh...Excuse me... ma’am?” suddenly Adrian felt light and around her time seemed to rewind itself. The dust and cobwebs faded away and there sitting on the throne was a King with dark hair and elaborate gold ornaments decorated him from head to toe. Seated next to the King was a woman equally as decorated, her hair was pure white like Adrian’s but it was embellished with golden dust. Her amber eyes seemed to burn in an unearthly way. “Wow.” 

“I see you are impressed young Time mage.” a quiet voice whispered.

Adrian looked around in a confused look. “Who just…”

“Do not fret, I’ve been with you ever since you’re birth. Just know that I am a friend to you and the Young king of kings.” the voice whispered in an unearthly way.

Adrian furrowed her brows. “Uh but that...doesn’t…” 

“Tell me your impression of King Aegritudo.” the voice interrupted Adrian. Adrian looked back at the Solheim king, she looked into his eyes. They seemed cold, stern, as if there was no humanity left in his eyes. A shiver ran down her back. 

“His eyes...they’re cold.” Adrian simply responded. Then she focused on the Queen. She was the opposite of the king. There was life in her eyes, a warmth at was inviting and kind. Yet there was something else as well but Adrian couldn’t place what it was. “The Queen seems trustworthy.” 

“You have good eyes. Queen Terra was a dear friend of mine. Her clan was called the Aevum Magus clan.” Adrian watched as she noticed a young man enter the throne room. His wavy ebony hair was tied back, his clothing was simple compared to the King and Queen. Adrian then noticed the man’s eyes, they were a deep blue, a very familiar deep blue. 

“Hey that guy...he looks like an older Noct. with long hair though.” The voice gave a warm chuckle upon hearing Adrian say that. 

“That’s Primitus Lucis Caelum, he’s the chief of Lucis, back when it was under the rule of Solheim. Also he is Noctis’ ancestor.” Adrian nodded. 

“Called it.” She watched as Primitus bow down to King Aegritudo. 

“Your Majesty, I am grateful for this opportunity to speak to you.” Primitus politely spoke. He was soft spoken. King Aegritudo narrowed his eyes.

“As you should be, Lucian, So tell me. What is your business here?” the king’s voice was icy cold. Primitus took a deep breath and then spoke in a clear voice. 

“I’m here concerning the recent increased demand of Mythril ore. My citizens are being worked to the bone trying to mine the ore. I wanted to ask if there are willing citizens here in Solheim who could help with the mining. I barely have enough miners and I don’t wish to force them to work overtime.” 

Adrian furrowed her brows. “Mythril? What’s Mythril.” 

“Mythril is an ore that is filled with magical properties. It’s rare to find.” The small voice informed. Adrian gave a sad look. She noticed how tired Primitus looked. She also noticed that his clothing, simple as they were, looked as if they were stained with dirt. 

“He’s been working in the mines as well wasn’t he?” that was when King Aegritudo curled his lips into a dark smirk. 

“Why would I spare my own citizens to help out with lazy miners.” Queen Terra gave her husband a flabbergasted look.

“Why would you even…” Terra started. King Aegritudo raised his hand up to silence his wife. 

“Stay quiet. Anyway my own citizens don’t have time to work under a Lucian Chief. Especially since he possesses odd abilities. Frankly, I am actually inclined to pull more men from Lucius to work in Steyliff and Costlemark.” Primitus shocked looked changed to that of frustration. 

“But if you do that my people will not be able to maintain the mines properly. The work conditions will be too dangerous.” Primitus tried to reason with King Aegritudo. However King Aegritudo did not listen to the young man’s plead. 

“And why would that bother me young Black Mage. I grow bored of your presence. Please leave at once.” the young queen gave a nasty look towards King Aegritudo. She then looked worried as Primitus angrily stormed out of the throne room. 

“That was wrong what that king did!” Adrian snapped. She was appalled by the disrespect he gave to Primitus and Terra.

“This was just the start young time mage.” Adrian furrowed her brows as the throne room was engulfed in a fire. On the throne was the horned man with amber eyes. Adrian backed up. The horned man smirked as Adrian ran. Everything felt slow as the halls grew longer. Between the columns, the statues of the Kings of the past glared angrily at Adrian. 

“Traitor! Witch! The Aevum Magus will pay for their crimes against Eos!” Adrian kept running, she refused to let them stop her. The flames burned hot, her exit was in sight. 

“All most there...I just need to…” Adrian jumped forward towards the exit, her arm outstretched. “WAKE UP THIS IS JUST A DREAM ADRIAN JUST A DREAM!!!” Adrian then woke up in the car. She looked around and took a relieved breath. “I’m back good.” 

Gladio gave an odd look at Adrian. “I’m guessing you were really knocked out if you thought you left.” Adrian smirked as she came up with a snarky remark. 

“Well yea I was in paradise for a second. Warm tropical waters and pretty fishes to draw.” this earned Adrian a small chuckle from Noctis. 

“I would like to see more fish drawings.” Noctis thought out loud.

Adrian just stuck her hand out while flashing a toothy grin. “Twenty gils for a commission then. This starving artist has to eat too.” Adrian jokingly demanded. 

“I would hardly call you a ‘starving’ artist given how much you actually eat.” Ignis stated. 

Adrian scoffed at his comment. “I can’t help that my metabolism is high and your cooking is amazing.” Ignis gave a charming smile as Adrian sat back down and sighed. She looked up ahead. She noticed that Ardyn had pulled into a gas station with a camper next to it. “And we’re pulling in for a pit stop right?” 

Noctis nodded. “Yep.”


	18. Camping with a Snake

Adrian stretched out her arms as they got out of the regalia. “Ahh my legs are asleep.” 

Noctis looked over and nodded. “You're telling me, Sleep sounds really good right now.” 

“Says the King of sleep.” Adrian teased. Just then Ardyn walked up. “Oh great, Captain Creeper is here.” luckily Ardyn didn’t hear Adrian’s remark. 

“We are going to make a pit stop here for the night.” Gladio narrowed his eyes and grunted. 

“Hu...we’ll make camp then.”

Prompto shot a disbelieving glance at Gladio. “Camping? With Ardyn!” Adrian shot a nasty look at Ardyn. 

“Yea nope if he’s camping with us, I would take my chances with the daemons outside” Adrian stated. 

This earned her a teasing smirk from Ardyn. “Oh don’t worry dear Kitten. I was never an outdoors man. So I will pay for the camper tonight.” 

Adrian shuddered at Ardyn’s offer. “Ah no thanks. I’ll sleep in the Regalia tonight. It would be safer.” She retorted and proceeded to back away from Ardyn. 

She backed up into Noctis, whom then rested his hands on her shoulders in a comforting way. He leaned down and whispered in her ear. “Adrian, just stay on your toes and keep your eyes open. If we do that, nothing will happen.” Adrian turned red. She could feel his warm breath against her ear. She turned around and looked directly into Noctis’ eyes with a serious expression. 

“Noct if I wake up in a tub full of ice and missing kidneys. I’m blaming you.” Noctis blinked a few times then smirked. 

“If you wake up in a tub full of ice and missing kidneys, I’ll make sure to hunt down the maniac who did that to you.” Adrian felt her blush spread to her ears and she quickly looked away from Noctis’ blue eyes. 

“Gak…You really shouldn’t say things like that! Someone will get the wrong impression.” Adrian flailed her arms around and quickly walked away from the group. 

Noctis blushed lightly, Ignis noticed Noctis’s odd look. “Noct, She does have a point.” 

“Uh what?” Noctis snapped out of his daze. 

Ignis just sighed. “She’s putting priority of her job over her wants. I suggest you do the same.” Ignis simply explained. 

Noctis turned bright red and glanced away. “It wasn’t like that!...I was just...well I.” Ignis gave an unconvinced look as Noctis tried to regain his composer. “Look I haven’t forgotten my duty. Besides the wedding is the only way I can save Luna from Niflheim. If I don’t do that, what kind of friend would I be.” 

“That wasn’t what I was referring to. I was just saying that I would be a bit hesitant to openly flirt with the daughter of Cor the immortal.” Ignis said with a sly smile as Noctis took a minute to process what he just said. 

“Wait...Specs you're kidding right? Cor doesn’t have a daughter...does he?” Noctis stumbled with his words. He looked over at Prompto and Gladio for confirmation. Prompto looked up and let out a whistle. Gladio let out a chuckle. 

“Well that’s what you get for sleeping in.” 

“It’s not confirmed though. That’s an upside.” Prompto pointed out in a cheery way. Noctis just rubbed the back of his neck, shaking his head. 

“Adrian is...Cor’s daughter? How is that even possible?” Prompto smirked as he draped his arm around Noctis’ shoulder. 

“Well Noct when a Mommy and a Daddy love each other very much.” Noctis turned red and frowned. 

“You know what I meant.” 

 

However, unaware to the group, Loqi was nearby watching as they all headed into the camper. “Why the hell is he with them?” He questioned as he monitored the gang's movements. 

“Boy you are a creep aren’t you?” said a female voice, Loqi jumped and glared at the female dragoon who was standing behind him.

“What the hell are you doing here Aranea!?” Aranea rolled her eyes as she glanced over at the camper in the distances. 

 

“What do you think I’m doing, I’m tracking down my hunt. How about you? You look like some creepy stalker.” 

Loqi glared angrily at Aranea. “I’m not stalking. I’m tracking just like you!” 

Aranea rolled her eyes. “Right so what’s going on?” 

“They went into the camper. The girl...something is different about her.” 

Aranea rolled her eyes again. “She’s a warrior at heart Loqi. Especially since she kicked your ass.” Loqi frowned at Aranea’s remark. 

“She’s a witch, she shouldn’t have powers like that.” Aranea shook her head. 

“She’s not a witch, just a girl who got caught up in this war. Hmph, it’s not the first time a gifted spell caster got mixed up in this mess.” Loqi glanced up at Aranea. 

“Talking from experience?” the Dragoon sighed and started to walk away. “Hey! I was talking to you!” 

“Ha, Don’t worry your pretty head over it.” with that she left.

Adrian found it difficult to sleep that night. She kept tossing and turning in bed. Finally, she had given up on sleep and stepped outside the camper for some fresh air. “Couldn’t sleep Kitten?” said a voice. Adrian jumped and spun around to see Ardyn sitting behind her in a chair. 

Adrian scrunched up her nose out of irritation. “Uhg...why are you up?” Adrian growled. 

This didn’t intimidate Ardyn. He gave an amused smirk which made Adrian even more frustrated. “I was just enjoying the fresh air.”

Adrian narrowed her eyes. “Right, sure you were.”

Ardyn maintained his smirk, he got up and walked closer to Adrian. His hazel eyes seemed to freeze Adrian on the spot. “You don’t trust me do you Kitten?” 

Adrian rolled her eyes. “What gave that away? My welcoming stares or my charming voice?” she sarcastically remarked.

Ardyn lightly rested his hand on her shoulder. “I’m inclined to ask you the same thing little Kitten? Why are you so aggressive towards me?” Adrian shivered and backed up out of Ardyn’s reach. 

“Don’t touch me!” Adrian squeaked quietly. She felt slightly violated from his touch. 

Ardyn sighed, not taking Adrian’s words seriously. “I mean you no harm little Kitten. I would imagine you are curious about your powers.” 

Adrian rolled her eyes. “Not this again. Look I don’t have any powers mister and if I did, I wouldn’t ask you for any information so quit asking about it!” She demanded. Adrian hoped that he would back off. 

However Ardyn found it amusing and circled Adrian. “You don’t have to be so cautious of me Kitten. I am just doing my part to help you out in the grand scheme.” 

“Sure you are.” Adrian spouted out as she backed up. Her heart pounded from fear that Ardyn was going to do something to hurt her. Yet this wasn’t the case. Ardyn instead got close to Adrian. 

“Of course little Time Mage. I could help you learn more about your powers. If you like.” 

Adrian flinched at Ardyn’s voice. The way his words shook her spine, it was uncomfortable. “You’re insane. I don’t have Time Magic.” Adrian simply replied. She refused to reveal that she had special abilities.

“We shall see how long you can keep that lie.” Ardyn sighed. With that he walked back inside the camper. Adrian however didn’t wish to be in the same room as Ardyn. She walked over to the regalia and hopped in the back. She opened up a compartment and pulled out her bag. 

“I just need something to use as a cushion.” Adrian thought out loud. Sadly there was nothing she could use other than the bag itself. Her hand brushed against the unopened package she had received. Adrian took it out and sighed. Her heart pounded nervously as she carefully unwrapped the package to reveal a leather bound book. The front cover was worn down. “A book?” Adrian opened it to the front page where tucked away was a letter addressed to her, A letter from Cor. Adrian’s eyes grew large. She quickly looked for a flashlight. Once she found one, she turned it on and started to read. 

Ari, 

If you are reading this letter, I want you to know that everything your mother and I did was for your safety. I understand that as you are reading this, you must be very confused. I know that you must have many questions. I promise you that this book will explain most of them and when we see each other again, I will answer personally. The question you’re probably thinking right now is why I sent this to you in the first place. Well to simply put it, I’m your biological father, I didn’t say anything at first because I didn’t want to scare you any more than you probably were at the moment. However, I did not want to hide this truth from you. You deserve to know about where you come from. This book was your mother’s journal, and I hope that it can answer some of your questions. Adrian, I understand that this is a lot of information to take in and that you might feel like you’ve been lied to. However, your mother and I didn’t want to send you away. We loved and cherished you and it hurts knowing that I didn’t get to be the father I wanted to be for you. Stay safe on your journey, my beautiful Praelin. 

Sincerely, Cor

 

Adrian hands shook as tears splashed down onto the ink. She didn’t know whether to be angry or relieved. On the one hand, She had her confirmation about Cor being her father. Yet on the other hand, she was angry. She was angry at her Grandfather and the family she grew up with. They didn’t say anything about her not being their real daughter. Her Grandfather hid the truth about who her real father was. Adrian tuck the letter away in the book, She looked up at the night sky. The stars sparkled and in an odd way, Adrian couldn’t help but to smile up to the sky. She wiped away the tears and just let herself laugh. “Ha...hahaha, I’m a Leonis. That means I’m half Lucian and if what Cor said about Mom being from Galahad is true then I am half Galahadian too… HAHAHAHA!” the night sky was filled with her laughter. The feeling of anger was overpowered by her feeling of relief. This was what she wanted, a chance to find out more about her mother, a chance to find out who she truly was.

**Author's Note:**

> Again this is just for light-hearted entertainment so I do hope that everyone enjoys reading this. I also ask for a little patience with me personally because I haven't thought of a schedule to post each chapter so updates might come at random depending on what life throws my way. Also I wasn't one hundred percent sure how to rate this so don't be surprised if the rating changes. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this and I look forward to posting more of this fanfic for everyone's enjoyment. :)


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